Newspapers hang on display for sale in Mexico City on Monday, a day after the Mexican army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as 'El Mencho.'Jon Orbach/The Associated Press
The killing of drug cartel boss Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” by Mexican special forces represents a reversal of Mexico’s previous security policy, “abrazos, no balazos” – “hugs, not bullets.”
His death sparked spasms of violence across 20 Mexican states Sunday, claiming the lives of 25 National Guard members and 30 alleged gunmen, as thugs from his Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) blocked roads and set fire to vehicles, banks and supermarkets.
“Abrazos, no balazos” emerged from a 2018 campaign slogan of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador. He repeated it ad nauseam throughout his administration, along with admonishments for drug cartels to behave – even warning them once, “I’m going to tell your parents.” But observers say the strategy was poorly defined and never became more than a catchphrase.
“With López Obrador, there was an order given to the army not to confront organized criminal groups,” said Father Jorge Atilano, a Jesuit priest who heads the National Dialogue for Peace, a Catholic initiative. It was launched after two elderly Jesuits were slain by a cartel boss who had chased a man into their parish in the Sierra Tarahumara mountain range. Nowadays, Father Atilano said, “it’s noticeable that there is more activity against organized crime.”
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Some tourists say the streets of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, are quiet a day after fire and violence engulfed the popular tourist destination following the death of the notorious leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. One visitor, a dialysis patient, said transit shutdowns left her scrambling to get treatment.
The Canadian Press
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Mr. López Obrador’s successor and protégé, quietly discarded her mentor’s security policy by shipping nearly 100 suspected cartel leaders to the United States over the past year, decommissioning drug labs and restoring security co-operation with the United States that had frayed under her predecessor.
Ms. Sheinbaum has come under U.S. pressure to target politicians with ties to the drug cartels, not just cartel leaders.
The CJNG is accused of corrupting politicians throughout the territories it controls. The mayor of Tequila was detained for allegedly extorting distillers and having CJNG ties. Adan Augusto López, a former interior minister under Mr. López Obrador, was alleged in military intelligence documents to have handed over public security in southeastern Tabasco state to a commander belonging to a criminal group with CJNG ties. Mr. López has denied any wrongdoing.
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“Claudia is being forced to give” on sending alleged narco-politicians to the U.S., said Federico Estévez, a political science professor at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico. Targeting a capo like “El Mencho,” is preferable, he said, “to the extreme of handing over political heavyweights. That’s what she wants to avoid.”
The U.S. offered US$15-million for Mr. Oseguera’s arrest. But analysts say he likely became a Mexican priority when his gunmen tried to assassinate security secretary Omar García Harfuch in a spectacular attack in one of Mexico City’s wealthiest neighbourhoods in 2020, firing on his bulletproof vehicle with grenades and high-powered rifles.
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The operation against Mr. Oseguera demonstrates the increasing security teamwork between the two countries.
U.S. President Donald Trump has been turning up the pressure on Mexico to take on drug cartels and stamp out fentanyl smuggling, even musing about putting U.S. boots on the ground and urging Ms. Sheinbaum to allow American soldiers to take the lead.
Mexican soldiers carried out the operation with the help of U.S. intelligence agencies – the kind of co-operation that has been used successfully against cartels in the past but rarely trumpeted, to avoid offending Mexican sensitivities regarding sovereignty.
“We as the armed forces have greatly strengthened that relationship with the United States Northern Command,” said Defence Secretary Ricardo Trevilla Trejo, who choked up as he praised the slain soldiers Monday. “And that exchange of information is extremely important.”
Analysts say Mexico still confronts a situation in which U.S. security concerns trump Mexican priorities, even with renewed co-operation.
“Whenever the White House says Mexico will jump, it jumps because it has no other choice right now. And the few resources they do have are going to be steered away towards satisfying U.S. interests,” said Falko Ernst, a security analyst in Mexico City.
“It’s a strategic dilemma. Trump and his team are going to push for more,” he added. “It’s all about appeasement. That’s what Claudia has been trying to do.”