Mexican Mayor who fought cartels assassinated
By Monica Showalter www.americanthinker.com
Assassinations, horribly enough, aren't just confined to the U.S.
But they're done by the same types of evil people, and yesterday, the mayor or Uruapan, in Mexico's Michoacan state, driving distance from Guadalajara, was assassinated in cold blood by Mexico's notorious cartel thugs.
According to the New York Times:
An outspoken mayor in western Mexico who had repeatedly called for a harder line against organized crime was shot and killed on Saturday night while attending a Day of the Dead celebration.
Carlos Manzo, the mayor of Uruapan, had become a thorn in the side of cartels in Michoacán State, where violence among rival criminal groups and with state and federal security forces has exploded.
He often denounced criminal groups for extorting the avocado and lime producers in his city, an economic engine in Michoacán, even vowing to take lethal action against local cartels.
Mr. Manzo was also an uncomfortable figure for Mexico’s federal government. He had criticized President Claudia Sheinbaum’s strategy to curb cartel violence as a failure and demanded more power to fight back.
Mexican press reports say he had repeatedly asked the government for more protection against these monsters and the government refused to give it. The Times report says he did have a 14-person National Guard contingent, which even if it was the requested security, didn't do him much good.
Now he's dead and a message has been sent -- to not cross the cartels, and to not criticize the government. That's ugly stuff.
The Times report says he did make the cartels' lives miserable -- it's a good report full of context which gives us this list of the things he did and the atmosphere in which he operated:
Periodic meetings between military personnel and Mr. Manzo, General Trevilla Trejo said, had resulted in the arrest of dozens of suspects — as well as the seizure of dozens of firearms, more than 50 armored monster trucks and nearly 840 mines, drones and other explosive devices used by cartels.
Michoacán has become a battleground for some of Mexico’s most powerful criminal groups as they fight for control of the drug trade and other criminal enterprises.
Last year, a journalist was fatally shot moments after he interviewed Mr. Manzo in Uruapan. Last month, a prominent lime grower was found dead after denouncing extortion rackets. Mr. García Harfuch said during the news conference that at least one Mexican soldier had been killed during a recent confrontation with cartel members and that two police investigators had been kidnapped.
It's a sad and dismaying story, which one hopes, will discourage Mexican voters from voting for the leftist ruling party until they can end their policies of 'hugs, not bullets' for Mexican cartel members.
The Times notes that Manza criticized the ruling party on these grounds:
Mr. Manzo had been a loud critic of Ms. Sheinbaum’s approach against organized crime and had demanded more help from federal authorities.
His criticism mostly focused on the strategy she has pushed for: prioritizing the use of intelligence and investigation over directly combating crime, as well as ensuring strong coordination among security agencies and addressing the root causes of violence.
Which sounds pretty Kamala-Harris-y, and more to the point, indicates what cartels don't fear and what cartels do fear -- enough to strike back at like cornered rats.
He was nicknamed 'Mexican Bukele' for it, and obviously, the Trump administration would have liked his approach, as undoubtedly, the Mexican public did, too.
There's one relevant reason why we should care here in the states at this terrible picture: The cartel scum have similarly threatened U.S. federal agents enforcing immigration and drug laws, placing bounties on heads of U.S. agents and keeping databases, quite possibly in alliance with some of their leftist friends.
This is what they do, in atmospheres where no consequences are feared. Do they have that same perception in the U.S. If so, we are in for a rough ride, and President Trump's idea to bomb cartel targets in Mexico suddenly needs a fresh look.
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