Description: Anti – government protests, predominantly led by the country’s Gen Z population, turned violent as more than 120 people were reported injured and more than 20 people were arrested in Mexico’s capital, Mexico City. The protests arrived as public anger considerably rose after the assassination of the mayor of Michoacan, Carlos Alberto Manzo Rodriguez. Manzo was known to have spoken against the violence on Mexico’s streets originating from the high – levels of organized criminal activities perpetrated by the drug cartels. Young Mexicans were interviewed through the streets of the capital stating that security has fallen to a historic low and cartels were murdering people with impunity or without any ramifications. President Claudia Sheinbaum, despite still enjoying the overwhelming support of the public, blamed oppositional right – wing parties for orchestrating the protests by stating that they were largely incited by social media bots, despite the high turnout of the protests in the capital.
Impact: Mexico’s President, Claudia Sheinbaum, is experiencing elevated political pressure on both the domestic and the foreign front having fallen short of causing significant damage to the drug cartels or improving the overall security status of the country. The drug cartels have been sequestered to operate within a small geographical footprint since the US escalated its war on drugs on the south American continent and dispatched heavy military hardware in the Caribbean to combat illegal drug trade. Mexico is central to the regional cartel organizations, as predominantly a transit but also a manufacturing country, as they are constantly engaged in a perpetual war for dominance over trafficking routes, territory and influence in general. With the US raising the pressure on the foreign front, threatening with high tariffs and other disadvantageous economic instruments, such as modifications to the USMCA trade agreement, cartel violence in the country would only be on the rise on par with the civil unrest aimed at the government for failing to prevent the cartels and harden the security status in the country.