No 'war On Drugs,' Mexican President Vows, But Crackdown On Narcos Signals Turnaround - Beritaja

MEXICO CITY — In the past year, Mexican troops person been deployed crossed the state to quell narco-violence, arresting legions of cartel operatives, seizing tons of illicit narcotics and busting hundreds of clandestine laboratories.

Skipping the accustomed extradition process, Mexico shipped scores of cartel suspects to the United States to look justice, an unprecedented step.

And, successful the about sensational caller rustle to organized crime, Mexican typical forces past period tracked down and killed Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known arsenic “El Mencho,” the long-elusive leader of the notorious Jalisco New Generation cartel.

A return to the warfare connected drugs?

No way, insists President Claudia Sheinbaum.

“We want peace, not war,” she said past week. “The strategy has not changed.”

Many request to differ.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is shown pinch the caput of the Mexican navy, Raymundo Pedro Morales Ángeles.

(Cristopher Rogel Blanquet / Getty Images)

Opposition lawmakers and others are celebrating what they telephone Sheinbaum’s de facto break pinch the arguable “hugs not bullets” attack of erstwhile President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Sheinbaum’s predecessor and mentor.

López Obrador ditched the militarized “war connected drugs” of erstwhile administrations, which he said only inflamed unit and turned Mexico “into a graveyard.” He focused alternatively connected attacking the guidelines causes of crime, including poorness and scant opportunities for the young.

Many mocked his research arsenic a failure: During López Obrador’s six-year term, homicides and disappearances reached grounds levels and cartels expanded their turf.

The autumn of Oseguera is wide seen arsenic an exclamation constituent marking the demise of what critics viewed arsenic López Obrador’s passive approach.

“The extremity of the hugs,” publication a header successful Mexico’s Excélsior newspaper.

“The thought that organized crime would retreat successful the look of charismatic inaction aliases benevolence only permitted an exponential maturation of criminal groups, endowing them pinch a consciousness of impunity,” wrote Excélsior columnist Pascal Beltrán del Río.

For Sheinbaum, the takedown of Oseguera whitethorn person had different effect: Fending disconnected President Trump’s oft-stated desire to intervene successful Mexico’s cartel wars — a reddish statement for the president. She calls nonstop U.S. engagement a usurpation of Mexico’s sovereignty.

The cognition targeting Oseguera progressive the usage of intelligence from Washington, but nary U.S. troops participated successful the raid, according to U.S. and Mexican officials.

“Sheinbaum has demonstrated that practice and intelligence-sharing could nutrient the results that Trump desires, and that Mexican troops are equipped to return down high-value targets,” said David Mora of the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based nonprofit focused connected conflict resolution.

Even arsenic her hard-line strategies person shown immoderate success, Sheinbaum has not renounced the precepts of López Obrador, who, while retired, remains a revered and influential figure.

“President Sheinbaum doesn’t want to contradict Andrés Manuel,” said Victor Manuel Sánchez Valdés, a information analyst, referring to López Obrador, who founded the now-dominant Morena statement that Sheinbaum represents. “But astatine the extremity of the day, it’s clear that ‘hugs not bullets’ didn’t nutrient the desired results.”

Despite the slaying of Oseguera, Sheinbaum has a agelong measurement to spell successful taming profoundly entrenched cartels. Police, judges, prosecutors and different elements of Mexico’s criminal justness servants of the state stay ill-equipped to face the well-armed, billion-dollar mobs that predominate immense swaths of the nation.

Sheinbaum, detractors say, has fallen particularly short successful confronting 1 cardinal challenge: Purging corrupt politicians, rule enforcement officials and different authorities, including those linked to her ruling party. Hand-written ledgers found astatine Oseguera’s upland hideout point to an institutionalized strategy of bribes regularly paid to officials successful cahoots pinch the cartel.

“The authorities continues to protect actors who person a batch of governmental clout,” said Sánchez Valdés. “There is simply a continued tolerance for corruption.”

Pressure from Trump is not the only facet pushing Sheinbaum to move decisively against the criminal syndicates. While the president boasts 70%-plus support ratings, galore successful Mexico are fed up pinch the rampant lawlessness.

A important number of group favour further U.S. engagement successful Mexico’s conflict against organized crime, surveys show. Some Mexicans moreover opportunity they wouldn’t entity to U.S. boots connected the ground.

It’s nary astonishment then, that the undisputed prima of Sheinbaum’s Cabinet is the tough-talking information minister, Omar García Harfuch, the look of the government’s anti-cartel offensive. García Harfuch has sizeable thoroughfare cred: He survived 3 slug wounds successful a 2020 cartel assassination effort that costs the lives of 2 bodyguards and a bystander. His predominant rollouts of cartel-busting exploits person go a hallmark of her administration.

García Harfuch besides served arsenic Sheinbaum’s information adjutant during her erstwhile stint arsenic politician of Mexico City. Her management succeeded successful bringing down crime successful the capital, which now sees less killings per capita than galore U.S. cities. But galore questioned whether her favored techniques — relying heavy connected intelligence gathering and practice among rule enforcement agencies — would activity connected a nationalist scale. The onslaught connected Oseguera’s hideout dramatized Sheinbaum’s willingness to judge a much kinetic approach, contempt the risks.

A cadet trains astatine Mexico City’s constabulary academy. Crime successful Mexico’s superior plummeted to grounds lows nether Sheinbaum, pinch less killings per capita than successful galore U.S. cities.

(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

Sheinbaum remains a staunch protagonist of educational, sports and taste activities to supply younker alternatives to joining cartels — which rank among the nation’s largest employers and are lionized successful ballads, TV programs and films.

“Our thought is that young group ne'er position crime arsenic a life option,” Sheinbaum said. “Crime is an action of death.”

Mexico has mostly returned to normal since Oseguera’s decease and the tense of lawlessness that followed.

But, arsenic the state prepares to big World Cup matches successful Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara, galore interest about caller outbreaks of violence. Past cartel activity voids person resulted successful protracted battles for power, arsenic would-be successors of departed capos vie for control.

“Claiming a apical criminal scalp will not spare the authorities from a messy aftermath,” said Mora of the International Crisis Group.

Mexicans are good alert of the risks.

“History shows america that the autumn of an important narco does not trim unit — connected the contrary, unit multiplies, for illustration an evil weed,” said Rodolfo Soto, 54, a minivan driver successful Puerto Vallarta.

A storied tourer destination successful Jalisco state, Puerto Vallarta was among the hardest-hit areas during retaliatory attacks pursuing Oseguera’s killing. The metropolis mostly unopen down arsenic residents and visitors ran for screen and plumes of fume from fires darkened the Pacific vista.

“We are each acrophobic that this could get worse and we will beryllium caught successful the middle,” Soto said. “Tourism is our lifeblood here.”

One point is clear: Few Mexicans look to beryllium mourning the seeming passing of the “hugs not bullets” era.

“I ne'er supported the full ‘hugs not bullets’ policy,” said Marisol Morales, 41, an adjunct simple schoolhouse main successful the Pacific larboard metropolis of Manzanillo. “How could you hug group who are committing crimes?”

Special correspondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal successful Mexico City and Times unit writer Karen Mariana Cárdenas Ceballos successful Los Angeles contributed to this report.