Sinaloa, Chiapas, Guerrero, Guanajuato… Violence is out of control and things are getting out of hand for Claudia Sheinbaum

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Claudia Sheinbaum (Photo: El Universal)

Violence is out of control and the quality of fire of criminal organizations is increasing. In Guanajuato, in the area controlled by the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel, the organization that dominates Huachicol, two car bombs exploded, while in Guerrero, on the Costa Grande, soldiers clashed with armed civilians. The theater of criminal operations expanded dramatically in a few days, from Sinaloa and Chiapas to the country’s center. It is not yet known if the thunderous conflicts are part of the extension of the internal war in the Sinaloa Cartel, but what is seen is the first security crisis facing the new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, which puts her to the test on how to handle the disaster left by Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

The attacks in Guanajuato went to the heart of the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel. A car bomb exploded in Acámbaro, a few meters from the Municipal Public Security facilities, and shortly after another one exploded in Jerécuaro, outside the headquarters of the Municipal Security Secretariat. This cartel was born in 2014 in the center and south of the state, in Villagrán, next to Celaya, and in the horseshoe that forms the border with Michoacán – where Acámbaro is – and Querétaro – where Jerécuaro is. The selection of the targets suggests that the attackers reported collusion between the police and the Huachicol kings, although it is not known who carried out the bombs.

The Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel, which has had an alliance since 2019 with Los Escorpiones, the criminal arm of the Gulf Cartel, is at odds with the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel and with the Los Chapitos faction that is fighting the militias of Ismael El Mayo Zambada, in Sinaloa. The violence that occurred yesterday in southern Guanajuato was not unusual, but the scandalous nature of the acts placed it at the same level of public attention as Sinaloa and Chiapas, the states that were occupying the national interest and the efforts of the Sheinbaum government.

It is the same case of Tecpan de Galeana, which has lived under violence for a long time between two groups, Los Granados and Los Chanos. Los Granados belong to what is known as the Guerrero Federation, where Los Tlacos, the criminal group supported by the government of Evelyn Salgado has been conquering territories and expanding from the center and east of the state to the Costa Grande in search of an outlet to the sea for their drugs, and La Familia Michoacana, which has the same objective. There is no information about what caused the confrontation and the blockade of the highway from Acapulco to Zihuatanejo, where they have the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel as their main enemy.

The country is getting out of hand for the president in terms of security, even though all the violence cannot be attributed to her policy at the moment. It is the cursed legacy of the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador and the consequence of the failure of his strategy of not fighting the drug cartels, and leaning his preference towards the Chapitos and, secondly, the Sinaloa Cartel, which is also known as the Pacific Cartel. Sheinbaum needs time so that the strategy she proposed at the beginning of her administration, just three weeks ago, can begin to bear fruit. The problem is that she does not have it, and the narrative she is trying to build, returning to the general lines of her predecessor and his delaying and distracting tactics, is not working for her.

Sheinbaum dedicated 638 words to answer a question about the official notification of a judge to eliminate the publication on judicial reform from the Official Gazette of the Federation. She dedicated 45 words to the car bomb in Acámbaro. The news of the car bomb in Jerécuaro came to light after it was over. It did not change the news cycle. Claudia, as López Obrador did to escape the root of the problem, said that on Tuesday the Security Cabinet would inform them about the operations that are being carried out to restore security.

But the inhabitants of those states do not have to wait to be told what they are doing until next week. The rest of the country, either. They need to hear that the Head of State of Mexico is attentive, present, and acting. It seemed that in the case of Sinaloa, she was doing so and that the Army no longer had orders to flee but to confront the criminals when they attacked them: 19 armed civilians killed on Tuesday seemed to confirm this. However, the death rate was 19 civilians killed against 0 soldiers wounded or killed, a ratio that far exceeds the margins of legitimacy of the use of lethal force.

Worse still, a video published by Reforma revealed that 15 days ago eight soldiers were about to execute a young man, whom they stopped on the street and falsely accused of a crime, but who was saved from death because the video camera of a business recorded what was happening. What the video showed, by how they acted and decided to kill him after treating him in an arbitrary, deceitful, and criminal manner, is that their behavior was not new. The question arises: how many of those killed have been victims of extrajudicial executions?

Also, Sheinbaum seems overwhelmed by what appears to be military uses and customs. It is not attributable to her either but to López Obrador’s foolishness in taking them to the streets as police officers. She, who supported him, is beginning to pay the consequences of a condescending policy with criminals that gave them a piece of the country. The president will not be able to deal with the phenomenon with the old presidential speech, which has failed, given the results, and is weak, in the face of reality, nor build the space she needs for her strategy to start working. She needs to take the initiative firmly because the cartels are taking over Mexico and things are getting out of hand for her.

Source: MSN.com

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