Another day and another cartel fighting cartel for territory in Mexico
Mexico is on election mode and it looks like leftist Claudia Sheinbaum will be easily elected in June.
She represents President Lopez-Obrador’s political party, known as “Morena,” and plans to continue implementing his policies.
Future President Sheinbaum will inherit a bitterly divided nation and a lot of cartel-fighting-cartel for territory events.
This is an example of what I’m talking about:
Hundreds of people have fled their homes in southern Mexico as rival cartels fight for control of routes used to smuggle drugs and migrants.
Locals described cowering in their homes while bullets flew through their homes during a seven-hour gun fight.
More than 700 residents had been displaced from their communities near the Guatemala border, an official said.
The Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG) is trying to wrest the area from the grip of the Sinaloa cartel.
Criminal organisations like the CJNG and the Sinaloa cartel have been infiltrating the region because of its proximity to the border with Guatemala and important transit routes for migrants, whom they extort.
The worst-hit communities are Chicomuselo and La Concordia in Chiapas state. Residents of Chicomuselo said 20 people – 18 gang members and two locals – were killed in a cartel battle on 4 January.
In a statement, the community described “the pain at seeing children and youths trembling in fear and getting sick from having to live through these traumatic experiences”. They also accused the state of failing to protect them.
Do you understand now why “insecurity” is the number-one issue south of the border?
Who knows how much territory is run by cartels? Nobody knows for sure, but it’s a lot more than people want to admit. The Lopez-Obrador administration has avoided the issue or dismissed any connections between cartels and the political class.
Mexicans know better.
So will anything change? I guess it depends on our U.S. election. It’s obvious that a return of President Trump will force Mexico to control the situation or face consequences.
Time will tell, but what I hear from Mexicans is that Claudia Sheinbaum is more of a bureaucrat than a politician. She will need a lot political skills to assure Mexicans that she will keep them safe. One thing we can be assured about, though, is that another cartel-fighting-cartel story will surface next week.
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