Cartel Government in Mexico

For John, BLUF:  I don't think President Trump is wrong to be worried about Mexico and I am very happy every time he moves to help Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrado (AMLO), who I think is trying to do the right thing for Mexico, which includes getting control of the internal crime problems.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Mexican Cartel Rules City After Gunbattle

Here is the sub-headline:

Operation to free Ovidio Guzmán was unprecedented in scope and sophistication

From The Wall Street Journal, by Reporters David Luhnow, José de Cordoba and Santiago Pérez, 18 October 2019.

Here is the lede plus three:

A son of the infamous Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán is captured. Cartel gunmen respond with a vicious attack on soldiers and civilians across a major Mexican city, killing at least eight people. The government gives in and releases the son, a top figure in the cartel.

One of the most violent and harrowing days in Mexico's long fight against drug cartels unfolded late Thursday as members of the Sinaloa cartel wreaked havoc across Culiacán, a modern, middle-class city of around 800,000 residents, in response to what appeared to be a botched attempt to arrest Ovidio Guzmán.

Heavily-armed gunmen riding in convoys engaged in more than 70 separate firefights with Mexican security forces, set fires to vehicles, shot at government offices and engineered a jailbreak that freed 55 prisoners, with six recaptured, officials said. By nightfall, it was clear that the cartel was in charge of the city.

The article notes that this was the third major gunbattle of the week.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrado (AMLO) has his hands full.  And there are implications for these United States.  At some point the Cartels will look north for additional profits and power.  We need to be reading more by Researchers like Dr Robert J Bunker.  People may be worried about threats to the US Homeland originating from Syria, but we should also be looking closer to home.

Regards  —  Cliff