In four months, Mexico will host the World Cup, one of the most-watched sporting events on the planet. However, questions are mounting about whether this mega-event should remain there, given the violence unleashed in several states this past weekend.

The striking images of blocked avenues and plumes of smoke in major cities came after the death of “El Mencho,” possibly the most important drug lord in the Western Hemisphere since the fall of Nicolás Maduro.

Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), was killed this Sunday after an operation to capture him, carried out by the Mexican military and in which the United States shared key intelligence information.

The U.S. not only shared the drug trafficker’s location, but also that of two other criminals, possibly the second and third in command of the CJNG. One of them was known as Zero Three, the stepson of “El Mencho,” who commands the powerful paramilitary structure the cartel has developed over years, which includes surface-to-surface missiles.

However, the intervention of the government of the socialist Claudia Sheinbaum only targeted one of the locations. Why? We can only speculate.

According to researcher Sara Núñez de Prado Clavell, drug trafficking in Mexico “attacks the very foundations of the State, weakening power structures, corrupting them, and making it increasingly difficult to separate legality from the drug industry.”

MORENA, Sheinbaum’s party, has been implicated in drug money before. Her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, received between $2 and $4 million from the Sinaloa Cartel for his 2006 presidential campaign. This, according to an investigation conducted between 2010 and 2011 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

But U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s displeasure with the current Mexican government is not limited to the suspicious withdrawal from the theater of operations. It also stems from the fact that the United States expected “El Mencho” to be captured alive, so that he could share information about drug trafficking with the justice system, according to information leaked to former Argentine Vice President Carlos Ruckauf.

Media outlets have reported that the drug lord was wounded in Tapalpa, Jalisco, but died while being transported by plane to Mexico City.

Did actors within the Mexican security forces and the state want “El Mencho” to remain silent? Or did the operation simply go wrong and the crime boss was inadvertently killed? We don’t know for sure. And this distrust is not new.

A month ago, Sheinbaum had said that waging “war on drugs” was not being considered by her government because it was not within the framework of the law.

Only pressure from the White House made her change her mind. And from then on, she launched an attack against “El Mencho.” The truth is that the socialist’s rhetoric and actions have changed, not by her own choice, but due to pressure from Washington.

The drug trafficking problem in Mexico is considered one of the deadliest criminal conflicts in the hemisphere. According to the Donroe Doctrine, this makes it a matter of interest for her administration.

In 2023, there were 30,523 homicides in Mexico. In 2021, the country had a homicide rate of 28 per 100,000 inhabitants, almost five times the world average. Approximately 80% of homicides are linked to drug trafficking.

The bloodshed continues unabated; and in the process, thousands of kilograms of drugs reach the United States, jeopardizing the health and social fabric across the country.

Exactly one year ago, the Trump administration designated several Mexican cartels, including the CJNG, as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs). Today, the operation against “El Mencho” appears to be just the first decisive step toward weakening those who traffic in the pain and death of millions of Americans.