Los Cantaritos: Querétaro massacre worsens crisis of violence at the beginning of the Sheinbaum government

A new tragedy has shaken Mexico. An armed commando entered Los Cantaritos bar in Queretaro on Saturday night and opened fire on dozens of people. According to officials, the attack lasted less than a few minutes, but it left at least 10 people dead and 13 injured, two of them seriously. The massacre has once again raised questions about the wave of violence that has been sweeping the country at the beginning of Claudia Sheinbaum’s government and has fully entered the political arena, which the opposition presented in October and October. 8, a week after the inauguration. The president gave the privilege of a working visit to the northern state of Zacatecas, one of the hot spots of insecurity, and did not speak in the hours after the attack.

Governor Mauricio Kuri, of the opposition National Action Party (PAN), promised that “those responsible for this brutal act will be brought to justice.” The attack in Querétaro, a state that is not typically the most violent, raised concerns about its brutality and the possibility of contagion from Guanajuato, its neighbor and the entity that has recorded the most killings in Mexico so far this year, September. By the end of 2016, 1,863 research folders were opened. “We will not allow ourselves to be contaminated by what is happening elsewhere,” the PAN member concluded.

Analyst David Saucedo says Queretaro, just 200 kilometers from the capital, is an important part of Mexico’s criminal map. It borders Guanajuato to the west, which has been in a nearly five-year dispute between the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel, a powerful regional organization, and the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel, one of the world’s most dangerous criminal forces. Saucedo explains that Querétaro is Santa Rosa de Lima’s rearguard, the area where he retreats after confrontations, reloads supplies and concentrates a good part of his force power. The Jalisco cartel has a large presence in Guanajuato and the state of Mexico adjacent to the capital, and Querétaro would allow them to consolidate those territories. There are at least two other important cells in the region: La Familia Michoacana and the local mafia dedicated to fuel smuggling.

Authorities have not yet pointed to any cartel or disclosed a motive for the attack, although they have announced one arrest. Saucedo has presented three hypotheses, all based on cartel warfare. The first possibility is the so-called floor charge, an extortion fee that organized crime imposes on businesses for allowing them to operate. The second is an attack on a drug sales center belonging to a rival group, although no indication of the presence of narcotics at the crime scene has been released. Another thing is that some cartels chose to “heat up the square”: destabilizing areas controlled by their rivals. The angle of the criminals’ shooting and the video of the side-by-side explosions against diners lead experts to suspect that this is a direct attack and point to an attack against the civilian population to create fear.

After the attack, the opposition did not hesitate to put pressure on the Sheinbaum government. “It is necessary to put into practice the new security strategy announced a month ago,” said former presidential candidate Xochitl Gálvez. The former candidate assured that the policy of focusing on the issues of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, known as “embrace not bullets”, is not enough to stop the violence and strengthened intelligence capabilities from his opponent in the election. Urged to fulfill the promise. , investigating and coordinating the Mexican State. “Insecurity is overwhelming us and the discussion of holding the government accountable that ended years ago no longer exists,” Galvez said.

The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) also questioned the ruling party. Leader Alejandro said, “This is a tragedy that highlights the inability of the authorities to guarantee security.” Alito dark. The Chamber of Deputies was joined by their bishop, Rubén Moreira, in condemning the events. “Idleness is a gift to criminals,” the lawmaker said. The claims center on scenes of brutality that have been witnessed in recent weeks: the explosion of two car bombs in Guanajuato, the beheading of the mayor of Chilpancingo in Guerrero, the discovery of 11 bodies inside a truck in the same city and the war between the Sinaloa Cartel. Within which has already committed about 320 murders in Sinaloa. In his dual role of governor and rival, Kuri called for harmony. “For those who have used these cases for political issues, I ask that this is not the time to cause harm to any political party,” he commented, adding that he along with Sheinbaum’s Security Secretary Omar García Harfuchs Are in permanent contact.

“When incidents of violence and insecurity occur, the media are filled with the news, but it is rarely recognized when serious, sustained and disciplined work takes place,” said Sheinbaum of Zacatecas, assuring that it States where wages have declined. Most murders. During the week, the President also attacked PAN’s leader, Marco Cortés, who insists on classifying the crime as “narcoterrorism.” The President attacked, saying, “I don’t know whether to say that he is making a fool of himself or simply call him a traitor to the country because there is no intermediate explanation.”

Donald Trump’s victory has caused concern in Mexico, with forecasts of new security pressures. Trump has for years threatened to designate drug cartels as terrorist groups under U.S. law and with the idea of ​​justifying military intervention and operations in Mexican territory in violation of international law. Pushed to political marginalization after its failure in the elections, the Mexican opposition has tried to label the violence as “terrorism” in order to gain prominence, even if it means a delicate situation for the country. Sheinbaum concluded, “He is calling for foreign intervention.” The new government knows it cannot take any chances against Trump, who has returned to the White House with more power and resources to carry out his threats.

The massacre in Querétaro is another example not only of the violent days that Mexico is experiencing, but also of the political situation in the face of an insecurity crisis. At one extreme, the PAN and PRI want to exploit the violence that has marked the new political cycle in the country. In the second, the Morena government accuses its rivals of downplaying the incidents and launching a smear campaign. This time, the opposition’s demands ran into a wall of silence from the ruling party. However, the biggest hit to the table comes from organized crime. In a country that believes it has seen everything in its more than two-decade war on drugs, drug traffickers reappear every week with attacks, murders and bombings – each one more than the last. Even more brutal – sending messages to their enemies, intimidating the authorities and terrorizing the population.

Drug violence is not random. It has become sophisticated and has such an intention that all limits have been crossed. And 40 days after Sheinbaum came to power, it has been consolidated as the biggest challenge to his administration. It destroys the trust of the population, dirtyes the political game, spreads anarchy to large areas of the region, strains relations with the United States and costs the country about 20% of GDP every year. %, resulting in a loss of $245 billion. Institute for Economy and Peace. It also destroys lives: at least 10 after the worst tragedy in Querétaro in recent memory.