The death of Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, former leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, created a dangerous power vacuum in Mexico that could result in an escalation of violence similar to a civil war, according to Priscila Caneparo, doctor in International Law, in an interview with CNN Prime Time.
According to the expert, the cartel operated in a structured and organized manner under the leadership of “El Mencho”, operating through several “franchises” that had autonomous power, but maintained an umbilical connection with the central administration of the criminal group. “What’s happening at the moment is that, basically, these franchises are in a power vacuum and each one is trying to gain their own influence within the franchise,” explained Caneparo.
The situation is aggravated by two main factors. The first is precisely that generated by the death of “El Mencho”, who played a unifying role between the different local factions. The second factor is the cartels’ dissatisfaction with the cooperation agreement between Mexico and the United States to combat drug trafficking, recently implemented by .
International cooperation and trafficking feedback
Priscila Caneparo highlighted that the structure of drug trafficking in Latin America works in a network, which makes it impossible to combat it in isolation. “Cooperation with the United States to combat drug trafficking is essential, not because of the lack of efforts by the Mexican government, but because there is feedback,” said the expert.
This feedback occurs because Mexican cartels supply drugs to the United States, while American states with more permissive laws regarding gun sales end up being a source of weapons for criminals. “More than 80% of the weapons that Mexican cartels possess come from the United States,” Caneparo highlighted.
The expert also warned that the war on drugs, as it has been conducted, is already lost, as pointed out by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. “This fight, just for the sake of fighting, is not enough. Maybe we have to think about state policies and also public health sharing to promote and encourage the population, because this population also does not feed back into drug trafficking”, he concluded.
