How the Mexican drug cartels must toast Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
Declaring an end to the drug war in January 2019 with the promise of “Hugs, not bullets,” AMLO hoped the immensely powerful cartels would stop slaughtering each other and innocent people. He believed that the drug gangsters would reward an end to aggressive government security operations by respecting each others’ turfs. It was a very bad bet.
The cartels have shown their gratitude only with unrestrained violence. Some 31,000 people were murdered in Mexico in 2019. The measure of this loss is truly catastrophic. Applied proportionately to the United States population, Mexico’s 2019 murder rate would amount to 80,000 killings, approximately seven times higher than the actual 2019 U.S. murder count.
AMLO’s failure is encapsulated by what happened in October 2019, after security forces seized cartel leader Ovidio Guzman Lopez in Culiacán city. Facing the arrest of their leader, son of the infamous Joaquin Guzman, hundreds of Sinaloa cartel gunmen established citywide roadblocks, took military families hostage, and threatened to massacre hundreds of civilians unless Guzman Lopez was released. The release quickly followed. But the story wasn’t over. Three weeks later, a SWAT police officer involved in Guzman Lopez’s original arrest was assassinated in broad daylight. As you watch security footage of the incident below, ask yourself what it says about Mexico’s leadership that it tolerates this activity.
De al menos 100 balazos fue asesinado un policía estatal preventivo adscrito al grupo élite, dentro del estacionamiento de una plaza comercial, en Culiacán, Sinaloa.
El participó en el operativo de la captura de Ovidio, hijo de Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, el pasado 17 de octubre. pic.twitter.com/hrdLi8O1QO— En Pocas Palabras (@PocasPalabrasDk) November 7, 2019
Imagine if an FBI or Drug Enforcement Administration agent was gunned down like that by an organized crime group. Said group would have the doors of every one of its safe houses knocked down the next day. Politicians of all stripes would condemn the killing and demand justice. But in Mexico, the cartel is the real power on the throne. Guzman Lopez hasn’t been bothered since.
The bloody theatrics continue.
In late June, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, known for its near-psychotic addiction to violence, launched a mass attack on Mexico City public security chief Omar Garcia Harfuch. While the assassination attempt failed, the brazen display of violence in Mexico’s capital sent its own message. It showed the impunity with which the cartels now believe they can operate.
True, Mexican security forces have had some limited successes, such as their arrest of a low-level cartel leader over the weekend. But unwilling to go after the most powerful cartel officials, AMLO has ensured the bloodletting remains at epidemic levels. Take what happened to the prominent crime editor Paulo Morrugares as he ate dinner on Sunday evening. Gunmen entered the restaurant and shot Morrugares and his bodyguard to death. Note, here, that assigning one bodyguard is designed only to pretend protection. But, like the experience of Harfuch and the SWAT officer, this latest murder speaks to the cartels’ confidence and their ambition. They will not rest until any and all who stand in their way are either dead or co-opted.
Driving the drug trade with our purchases, the American people bear significant blame here. But until the 2024 election comes along and AMLO departs, it’s unlikely that any increased U.S. law enforcement or intelligence effort will stem the tide. The simple truth is that AMLO’s decisions are making Mexico a narco-state in all but name.
