Mexico’s President, Claudia Sheinbaum, denounced the war on drugs, claiming that her government was not going to go that route because killing drug traffickers is a fascist approach that violates their rights. The comments come at a time when Mexico’s government has been harshly criticized worldwide for the raging cartel violence and the government corruption that has enabled it.
During one of her conferences this week, Sheinbaum said returning to a state of war against drug cartels like prior administrations had done is not an option.
“Not an option,” she said. “First, because it is outside of the legal framework. All of these people from the right that fill their mouths with or use the words ‘rule of law’ and defend the war against the Narco, the war against the narco is illegal. Because, like I said or have said on various occasions, it’s permission to kill, without any trial. That in Mexico, no one or very few are in favor of. Second, it did not do anything (in the past) but raise the number of murders in Mexico and the level of violence. These authoritarian calls to go back to that are a call to fascism.”
The comments come at a time when Sheinbaum’s government has been harshly criticized following the murder of Carlos Manzo, the Mayor of Uruapan, Michoacán, who had gained international fame for his hard stance against drug cartels and his efforts to root them out of his town. A cartel-connected gunman shot and killed Manzo on November 1 during a Day of the Dead event in Michoacan. The murder has led to several protests and riots where groups even torched city halls and the Michoacan Governor’s palace.
Most recently, politicians in Peru called Mexico a narco-state as they announced the end to diplomatic relations between the two countries and declared Sheinbuam Persona Non-Grata in Peru over her granting asylum to a former politician who is wanted in that country on corruption charges.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
