The Latin American Report # 340

Claudia Sheinbaum's presidency has started very active in events, not necessarily positive. As we already referred, her predecessor left a hot environment in terms of insecurity, with two surging crises in the states of Sinaloa and Guanajuato. To top it all off, on the date of his inauguration, the Army made the “mistake” of killing six migrants in the south of the country. So, in Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa, a union that brings together local shopkeepers denounces that some 80 businesses have closed temporarily or permanently as a result of the outbreak of violence between two factions of the powerful cartel born in the rural areas of the state. It is a fact that everything became more complicated—although not immediately—after the arrest in the United States of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a historic druglord who was kidnapped by a son of “El Chapo” Guzmán, who had planned to turn himself into U.S. authorities.

Now La Mayiza and La Chapiza kill each other—or through proxies—and leave narco-messages with sombreros—a symbol associated with “El Mayo's” people—and pizza boxes—the same for Los Chapitos. “We are returning to the [...] the [COVID-19] era,” the leader of the union pointed out about the blow they are receiving from the lack of public affluence toward the businesses. “At this moment we are declaring ourselves economically insolvent, we are [seeking a] moratorium of payments because we cannot face rent payments and other types of taxes, we are focusing on paying the salaries to the workers because they have to eat”, he added.

During last Friday and the weekend, 21 men were mortally shot in the central and southern zones of Sinaloa. Between Monday and Tuesday, 10 homicides were reported in the state, most of them committed with firearms. Unfortunately, it is never determined if all these crimes are due to the dispute between the people loyal to “El Mayo” and the human assets of “Los Chapitos”. On Wednesday, the state prosecutor's office registered five homicides, four of them involving firearms, among other crimes that have skyrocketed in the last weeks, such as car thefts and kidnappings. Skeletal remains were also found in Culiacán on that date. Yesterday night the local press reported the gruesome discovery of five tortured, shot, and semi-naked corpses at the southern exit of the state capital.

_{Security forces patrol the streets of Culiacán. The objective is to protect the citizenry rather than to attack the criminal factions that plague the city (source of the image).}

But as journalist Arturo Ángel says in his X account, Guanajuato is a war zone. Only yesterday, on the third day of Claudia Sheinbaum's government, 32 homicide victims were reported there. It is one of the most violent days in the Aztec nation this year. In less than an hour, in five simultaneous events, 12 murders were recorded in the municipality of Salamanca, associated with infighting between two criminal groups. Meanwhile, in Chihuahua, last Tuesday, five bodies were found inside a government vehicle that had been reported stolen. The victims were wearing tactical gear and clothing, according to local media reports.

Shot migrants

At the inauguration of the new six-year term, six migrants were fatally shot—apparently by mistake—in the border state of Chiapas, with 10 more injured. Reports have been contradictory, because while the mortal victims turned out to be from Egypt (3), El Salvador (1), Perú (1) and Honduras (1), at first it was said that in the group of migrants—traveling through the roads of Chiapas—that was attacked by Mexican security forces, there were only Nepalese, Pakistani, Indian, Egyptian, and Cuban citizens, the latter being the only Latin American representation.

A communiqué from the Attorney General's Office alleges that the Secretary of National Defense received a report of “armed persons” near the city of Tapachula, finding three vehicles, whose passengers fled—ignoring the order to stop, it is said—and subsequently "attacked" military personnel who pursued them. So the military opened fire against the fleeing vehicles, stopping one of them with the aforementioned death toll. The military personnel who participated in the incident are in custody.

The drama experienced has led a Salvadoran who survived the attack to decide to return to his country. What could have led him to leave the safe lands where Nayib Bukele reigns?

This sad event once again shows the ugliest face of the regional crisis that leads thousands of migrants to put their lives at risk in a journey in which the sun rarely rises. While it is positive to allow migrants to book appointments—even from Chiapas—to present themselves at official ports of entry along the southwest border, it is reprehensible that the U.S. government turns a blind eye to the drama they experience from the Darién to violent México. Something must be done to end this crisis or reduce it to a minimum, which implies implementing concrete, tangible policies so that countries no longer throw up their citizens.

And this is all for our report today. I have referenced the sources dynamically in the text, and remember you can learn how and where to follow the LATAM trail news by reading my work here. Have a nice day.