■ When Claudia Sheinbaum was elected Mexico’s president in 2024, she ruled out a war on drug cartels, vowing to keep her predecessor’s strategy of “hugs not bullets” targeting causes of crime instead. But on February 22, Mexico’s army killed Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, aka “El Mencho,” head of the nation’s most powerful cartel.
The operation, following pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to deal with drug gangs, led to countrywide violence from Jalisco New Generation Cartel that experts fear will continue, raising questions over Mexico’s security and its relationship with the U.S.
The U.S. National Counterterrorism Center has described CJNG as “one of the most powerful and violent cartels in Mexico.” Robert Almonte, a retired U.S. marshal, told NewsNation that Oseguera Cervantes’ death would not end gangs. “[Sheinbaum] still has…