John Wall (10:28)
All right, first up, let's start with what the left is saying. The left is mixed on the operation, with some arguing the US Is continuing to push for a failed policy. Others praise Sheinbaum for her decisive action. In Jacobin, Benjamin Fogel wrote, another kingpin falls. Nothing changes. For nearly 50 years, the United States has pursued a strategy of taking out the leaders of major drug trafficking organizations as the centerpiece of its drug wars. El Mencho joins the litany of past slain iconic designated drug villains deemed as the most violent and dangerous traffickers of their in the never ending war on Drugs, Vogel said. Nobody can seriously claim that any of these deaths or arrests has made Mexico a less violent country or seriously reduced the overall power of organized crime, let alone hindered the flow of drugs to the United States and the rest of the world. Since Richard Nixon first declared a war on drugs in 1971, in large part to justify a crackdown on the New Left, there are now more drugs on the market than ever before, and they have never been easier to get a hold of. If anything, the price has been dropping from South Africa to Europe. As a thought experiment, it's worth asking at this point if actually winning the war on drugs is the goal, if the agencies waging it are dependent on the threat posed by narco trafficking for continued budgets in the tens of billions, vogel wrote. Regardless of what happens following Mincho's death, the fall of another kingpin will do little to stem the power of organized crime and the interests that benefit from disorder, including those currently in the White House. In Bloomberg, Juan Pablo Spineto said Sheinbaum kills a drug lord and crosses her Rubicon every time a major cartel loses its boss. The spasm of revenge against a government is followed by bloody internal struggles as major players and their factions move to fill the vacuum, spineto wrote. Yet as it raises the prospect of sustained violence and cartel infighting in parts of Mexico as seen in Sinaloa after the removal of Ismael Mayo Zambara in 2024, Sheinbaum's bold move deserves support and recognition. The Mexican military operation backed by US intelligence cements a major turning point in the country's security strategy since Sheinbaum took office nearly 17 months ago. The so called kingpin strategy aimed at decapitating drug lords rarely prevents the rise of a new capo, even if it triggers violent unrest. Like nature, multibillion dollar criminal cartels abhor a vacuum, but the Mexican state needed to show that it has the resolve to regain control of parts of the country that criminal networks have terror terrorized for far too long, Spineto said. The operation is also a win for Sheinbaum in other respects. It shows that bilateral security cooperation with the US can pay off and that she is serious about fighting organized crime. That will win her credit with the Trump administration that has been rough in its treatment of the US's main trading partner. Alright, that is it for what the left is saying, which brings us to what the right is saying. The right supports the operation and calls on Mexico to continue its campaign against cartel leaders. Some say the US and Mexico should deepen their partnership in this effort. The Wall Street Journal editorial board asked, will President Sheinbaum keep going? Sheinbaum's predecessor and mentor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador from 2018 to 2024 followed a hugs, not gunshots appeasement policy toward the cartels that was a disaster. Organized crime now controls wide swaths of Mexico, producing and trafficking drugs, kidnapping for ransom, and running shakedown rackets, the board wrote. Ms. Sheinbaum took an early step toward confronting the cartels by appointing former Mexico City supercop Omar Garcia Harfuch as her secretary of security and citizen protection. On Sunday, she showed new seriousness by going after the leader of the powerful Jalisco New Generation cartel. Most Mexicans, apart from many in Ms. Sheinbaum's Morena party, welcome U.S. assistance. Their country has become lawless in many places and they want relief, the board said. Mr. Trump can also help by telling Americans to stop feeding the cartels by using drugs, and he can roll up networks in the us. Mexico can expect more violence if it continues to press its cartel campaigns, but that is one price of letting the drug lords gain so much power. In the Washington Examiner, Connor Pfeiffer explored Trump's opportunity in Mexico. This operation is a massive victory for Mexico and the United States and demonstrates that President Donald Trump's pressure on Mexico to increase security cooperation is working. Now is the time to double down on these gains and make lasting progress against narco terrorist groups that terrorize both countries, pfeiffer wrote. But taking down kingpins alone is not enough. Mexico has killed or captured a string of cartel leaders in the past 20 years, yet criminal groups continue to strengthen their hold over large swaths of Mexico to make lasting gains against transnational organized crime, Mexico must work with the US to degrade cartel leadership and networks, remove corrupt politicians who do their bidding, and improve Mexico's legal system, pfeiffer said. With the ongoing civil war between factions of the Sinaloa cartel, there is a rare window of opportunity where Mexico's most powerful cartels are weakened. At the same time, this provides a chance for Mexican forces, supported by US intelligence and other forms of assistance, to dismantle the networks that will attempt to perpetuate El Mencho's reign of terror or seek advantage from other criminal groups. Alright, that is it for what the left and right are saying. Which brings us to what Mexican writers are saying. Mexican writers are relieved at El Mencho's death, but some argue subsequent actions must target CJNG's finances. Others say Mexico should work with the US to continue forcefully confronting the cartels in expansion. Politica Alberto Guerrero Ballena said killing a kingpin does not kill his structure. El Mencho's death closes one chapter but opens another that Mexico cannot read with naivety or premature euphoria. The history of Mexican organized crime teaches a brutal and recurring killing. A kingpin does not kill his organization by an arrogant When a leader of this magnitude dies, the power vacuum doesn't remain empty for long. The internal factions of the CJNG already have their own operatives with names, territories and loyalties. The internal succession can take two equally dangerous an orderly transition under a new consolidated leadership or a fratricidal war that bleeds the territories under its former influence dry. The Mexican government, in collaboration with the Financial Intelligence Unit, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, and international agencies such as FinCEN in the United States and Europol must immediately activate a protocol for tracing the assets of the cjng, Baena said. Identifying, freezing and seizing the assets front companies, properties, accounts, agricultural investments and transportation franchises that sustain the cartel's daily operations is more effective than pursuing individual leaders. Without a flow of money, the organization collapses. In Excelsior, Pascal Beltrandel Rio wrote about the end of hugs. The events in Taupalpa demonstrate that criminals must be confronted with the same firepower and determination they have amassed. Peace is not negotiated with those who use car bombs, anti personnel mines and armed drones against the population, but rather imposed through the legitimate force of the state, del Rio said. However, the leader's death is not the end of the problem. Now that El Mencho is gone, the government has an urgent obligation to continue fighting the organization with the same intensity to prevent it from regrouping under a new leader or fragmenting into even more violent cells. It is positive that there is a close coordination with US Agencies. Drug trafficking is by definition a transnational crime that knows no borders and requires a joint operational strategy with our neighbor to the north, implemented without false notions of sovereignty, Shared intelligence and binational pressure are indispensable tools for dismantling the finances and routes of a monster that speaks both languages, del Rio wrote. Mexico took a firm step on Sunday. Let us hope that this is the beginning of an era in which the law is applied firmly and in which the state finally recovers its monopoly on the use of force. Alright, let's head over to Ari for Will's Take.
