Mexican President Blames America for Violence After U.S. Arrests Two Cartel

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Last July, the U.S. arrested two high-ranking members of the Sinaloa cartel. The resulting bloodbath in the Sinaloa capital of Culiacan has seen 30 bodies drop in just the last week as two rival factions struggle for control.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, also known as AMLO, gave a press briefing on Thursday about the bloodletting. When asked if the U.S. government was “jointly responsible” for this violence in Sinaloa, the president said, “Yes, of course … for having carried out this operation.”

The cartel is responsible for thousands of overdose deaths and hundreds of thousands of ruined lives. The Sinaloa cartel is the worst of the worst. They got control of the fentanyl market in the U.S. by murdering and bribing people until the competition was gone.

The operation that led to the arrest of two of the cartel’s kingpins was textbook. The DEA lured Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán across the border. On the pretext of inspecting remote runways in Northern Mexico, the plane landed instead in El Paso, where DEA agents were waiting. The two notorious killers (Guzman is the son of “El Chapo” Guzman, while Zambada is the cartel godfather) were arrested without the agents firing a shot.

Perhaps this is what AMLO is upset about. At any rate, Mexican citizens are cowering in fear in Culiacan, hoping not to get caught in the crossfire.

Associated Press:

Traffic was heavy in Culiacan and most schools were open, even though parents were still not sending their children to classes. Businesses continue to close early and few people venture out after dark. While the city has slowly reopened and soldiers patrol the streets, many families continue to hide away, with parents and teachers fearing they’ll be caught in the crossfire.]

“Where is the security for our children, for ourselves too, for all citizens? It’s so dangerous here, you don’t want to go outside,” one Culiacan mother told the Associated Press.

The mother, who didn’t want to share her name out of fear of the cartels, said that while some schools have recently reopened, she hasn’t allowed her daughter to go for two weeks. She said she was scared to do so after armed men stopped a taxi they were traveling in on their way home, terrifying her child.

So how does AMLO consider it’s America’s fault for arresting two internationally wanted criminals?

He said at the briefing that the U.S. had “carried out that operation” to capture Zambada and that “it was totally illegal, and agents from the Department of Justice were waiting for Mr. Mayo.”

Um…Mayo and Zambada were arrested on U.S. soil. That they were stupid enough to get on a plane and end up in El Paso is not the fault of anyone in the U.S. government.

“If we are now facing instability and clashes in Sinaloa, it is because they (the American government) made that decision,” he said.

AMLO kept digging.

He added that there “cannot be a cooperative relationship if they take unilateral decisions” like this. The cartels have so many eyes and ears in the Mexican government that the U.S. would have been foolish to consult or otherwise inform AMLO of the plan.

“Mexican prosecutors have said they were considering bringing treason charges against those involved in the plan to nab Zambada,” reports AP.

Still, the Zambada capture has fueled criticisms of López Obrador, who has throughout his administration refused to confront cartels in a strategy he refers to as “hugs not bullets.” On previous occasions, he falsely stated that cartels respect Mexican citizens and largely fight amongst themselves.

While the president, who is set to leave office at the end of the month, has promised his plan would reduce cartel violence, such clashes continue to plague Mexico. Cartels employ an increasing array of tactics, including roadside bombs or IEDs, trenches, home-made armored vehicles and bomb-dropping drones.

AMLO is delusional. “Hugs not bullets” when dealing with cold-blooded killers? It obviously didn’t work. Last week, AMLO asked the cartels to “act responsibly.” The next week, 30 people were murdered in the street.