Mexico faces uphill battle to appease kingpin Trump after cartel boss's killing

With schools still closed, flights cancelled and the charred carcasses of buses smouldering on streets across the country, Mexico was still reeling from the cartel backlash prompted by the killing of cartel kingpin Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “El Mencho.”

Security minister Omar García Harfuch was moved almost to tears on Monday as he offered his condolences to the families of soldiers felled in the operation to kill the country’s most wanted drug lord. Mexican military personnel, he said, “fulfilled their mission”.

But Donald Trump had a very different message to offer. As Mexican officials confirmed that 25 members of the national guard were killed in the operation, Trump posted on social media that: “Mexico must step up their effort on Cartels and Drugs!”

The killing of El Mencho has highlighted the intense pressure exerted by Trump on the Mexican government, the key role of the United States in supporting the country’s security operations, and the continued struggle Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s president, will face in her efforts to appease her US counterpart.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/23/mexico-trump-cartel-boss-killing

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