The Killing of El Mencho - Analysis & Implications

Latin America Correspondent Jon Bonfiglio speaks to Darryl Morris for Times Radio. 

Transcript

Darryl Morris 0:00

Hello, good evening, and thank you for your company tonight, slash this morning. Scott Lucas from the University of College Dublin is uh still with us taking us through the night stories. We'll get into some other bits and bobs you uh you might have missed as well to come. Um Scott, we also need to talk about what's going on in Mexico uh tonight. It's quite a dramatic weekend actually because Mexico's most wanted drug lord has been killed. There was a security operation that was that was designed to arrest him, um, and in it he has died. Jon Bonfiglio is our man in Latin America and can uh can explain what's happened. Jon, hello, good evening. Um tell me about this guy, El Mencho.

Jon Bonfiglio 0:36

Yeah, I mean I would actually put him not just as Mexico's most wanted criminal, but arguably uh the world's most, and certainly um, you know, right up there as being the world's one of the world's most powerful uh criminals. Um El Mencho, uh real name, El Mencho was his nickname, real name Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes. Uh he is the founder and leader of the Jalisco New Generation cartel, Mexico's most powerful criminal group. And as I said, arguably uh over the last few years has grown into being the kind of criminal organization which has uh which has spread its network right uh across the planet. Very little is actually known about him. There's sort of a mysticism around him. There's only actually only a handful of photographs of him in existence that all go back uh decades, and he's a highly uh reclusive figure. But yeah, this this morning, Sunday, Mexican Security Forces, which we understand to be the Army Special Forces of the National Guard, um entered the town of Tapalpa in Mexico's western state of Jalisco and attempted to capture Nemesio Seguera Cervantes, but were met with armed resistance. Firefight ensued in which the cartel leader was fatally wounded uh and killed along with a number of his associates. Um, and as you say, the operation appears to have been an attempted arrest, which is interesting because that what that means, what that suggests, is that there was a probable extradition to the United States lined up where Oceguerra is wanted for a variety of criminal offenses on a bounty of fifteen million dollars.

Scott Lucas 2:09

Jon, I I wanted to ask you uh about a feature of this story that I that it there was apparently cooperation between the U.S. authorities and Mexico uh regarding this operation, given that you know we usually have headlines where Donald Trump is at odds with the Mexicans and say they're not doing enough to to crack down on the cartels. Do we know the extent of the of the cooperation at this point between the agencies?

Jon Bonfiglio 2:44

So we don't know the extent of um of the cooperation. There is the suggestion that there was intelligence uh cooperation, and then there's this sort of uh this agency, US agency, that was quietly set up last year, which is sort of an anti-cartel task force that is believed to have been involved. But actually, it's it's a it's a really relevant point because to some extent uh today's events don't really make sense. Um, it's something arguably of an own goal by the Mexican administration, because we we've seen this film before. We know what's going to happen. It's going to lead to massive internal violence uh and casualties within the country, which is already happening today. So uh if we take the uh the as read the fact that the nature of this operation is clearly not in Mexico's uh direct interest, the sort of decapitation strategies of these cartel uh bosses, which Sheinbaum herself, President Claudia Sheinbaum herself has argued against, then the question is why would somebody who has presented public opposition to these kinds of interventions be ordering such a strike? And I think the answer lies exactly in what you're saying, um, lies in these repeated references to support, uh euphemistic references to support from Washington and US military intelligence. So I would argue that the central question is: was this a uh a Mexican operation or was Mexico forced into the operation under due rest from the United States?

Darryl Morris 4:06

Right, goodness me. And what's the what is the sort of wider context of this now? Because that there has been, I mean, I'm seeing images now of of um of of clouds of smoke and and uh violence and unrest.

Jon Bonfiglio 4:17

Yeah, look, violence has broken out across significant parts of Mexico as news broke of the military uh operation. We've got roadblocks burning vehicles being used uh by way of retaliation tactics and shows of strength uh in at least eight Mexican uh states. At the same time, a number of areas have issued code-red warnings, which include curfews, limited movement, and the entire state of Jalisco, population in excess of eight million people, which is the equivalent to the combined population of Wales and Scotland, has cancelled all public transport and told people to stay at home. There are warnings from the US government, uh, warning citizens to shelter in place if they're in Mexico. Canada and the UK have said uh similar things, and uh flights in and out of Guadalajara, capital of Jalisco, and World Cup host venue, importantly, and tourist resort Puerto Vallarta have been cancelled, and numerous states have uh cancelled classes and operating hours for businesses for uh Monday, 23rd of February. So, and and this is not likely to end anytime soon. Again, if we go back in history, this is going to be uh the beginning of relative anarchy as not only as pushback happens against the federal government, but also as splinter groups within the Jalisco New Generation Cartel start vying for control.

Scott Lucas 5:31

Jon, I wanted to pick up on that with respect to the other major cartel, which is Sinaloa. Um, the Sinaloa cartel has had some of its top leaders have been arrested in recent years. Last year, reportedly, there was a major internal split with fighting between two factions. Are we looking at a position where the cartels are on a downward slope where they actually are? You know, their power is being eroded. Or are you sort of saying to us, look, there's gonna be instability, there's gonna be splintering, but in fact, the cartel's power is still going to be prevalent. It's just gonna sort of rearrange in the weeks and months to come.

Jon Bonfiglio 6:10

Yeah, the cartels are highly um developed, evolved, um multinational, criminal, uh, and legal as well, licit and illicit organisms that are um that have uh organized themselves now uh across sectors, across industries and across nations over uh multiple generations. The the Sinaloa cartel situation is interesting because the reason that that splintered was because the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which again it's worth remembering, is actually only 15 years old. So it hasn't been in existence that long because the um the allegations run that the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the current Mexican government allied to splinter the Sinaloa cartel in order to uh to dampen down violence in the country and to um to slow down the the movement of fentanyl, which was predominantly uh Sinaloa cartel run into the United States. So not only is this a major development, today's development, the killing of El Mencho, uh significant development as regards state infrastructure, uh the federal authorities and um and the cartels, it also arguably demonstrates a one hundred and eighty degree U-turn as regards the the Mexican federal government's uh relationship in adverse e commerce uh between itself and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

Darryl Morris 7:33

Okay, bye. Um all right, Jon, stay safe amongst all that. Thank you for the update. No problem, take care. John Bonfiglio with us in Latin America tonight.