{"id":498406,"date":"2026-02-25T11:02:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T11:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/498406\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T11:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T11:02:08","slug":"in-mexicos-small-towns-and-rural-areas-cartel-retaliation-has-residents-on-edge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/498406\/","title":{"rendered":"In Mexico\u2019s small towns and rural areas, cartel retaliation has residents on edge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Members of the Civil Guard of Michoacan patrol a highway supported by armored vehicles after a wave of violence in the town of Aguililla, the birthplace of drug kingpin Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes in Mexico, on Tuesday.ENRIQUE CASTRO\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Mexican government has moved swiftly to project a sense of control after the killing of the long-time leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. In Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta and other major population centres, extra patrols can be seen around key intersections, and armoured vehicles have been stationed near strategic buildings to protect airports and tourist areas. <\/p>\n

But outside the metropolitan spotlight, in towns along the borders of the states of Jalisco, Michoac\u00e1n, Guanajuato, Colima and Zacatecas, highways have been blocked by cartel members, limiting travel between smaller cities and along rural corridors ever since Mexican special forces killed Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as \u201cEl Mencho,\u201d on Sunday.<\/p>\n

At least 70 killed in Mexican military\u2019s attempt to capture cartel leader<\/a><\/p>\n

The biggest toll has been borne by the residents of Michoac\u00e1n, El Mencho\u2019s birthplace, where a rolling wave of retaliation and intimidation continues. <\/p>\n

Father Gilberto Vergara Garc\u00eda, a former parish priest of Aguililla in Michoac\u00e1n, said the small town had endured more than 48 hours of terror. It wasn\u2019t until Tuesday that members of the National Guard appeared in the streets. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is understandable the government is prioritizing emblematic places like Guadalajara and other large cities, which may leave towns like Aguililla in second place,\u201d said Father Vergara, who wondered who would pay citizens for the damages to their cars and businesses. <\/p>\n

By Tuesday, reports began emerging of the fear and violence in towns and villages. Over two days in Coalcom\u00e1n, Michoac\u00e1n, unknown assailants blocked the highways toward the coast of Aquila and Tepalcatepec, effectively cutting off the municipal seat by land. The unrest escalated as cars, a passenger bus, a gas station, a government bank branch and store were set ablaze. <\/p>\n

Residents responded with panic buying, forcing grocery stores to close after selling out of basic goods. Most workshops, small businesses, tortilla shops and eateries shut down, and even the local radio station suspended regular programming to protect staff.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A burned bus following a series of roadblocks and attacks by organized crime near Tapalpa on Tuesday.Jose Luis Gonzalez\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Alberto Noboa, 34, drives an Uber during the week in Mexico City and spends time with his family in Epitacio Huerta, Michoac\u00e1n, almost every weekend. <\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t get back to the city yesterday,\u201d he said, adding that members of his family reported blocked roads in small towns in the states of Guanajuato and Quer\u00e9taro. <\/p>\n

At a news conference Tuesday, President Claudia Sheinbaum said that the country was \u201cunder control and returning to normalcy.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIn the vast majority of the national territory, activities are proceeding with complete normalcy,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

U.S. pressure was behind raid that killed Mexican drug cartel leader, analysts say<\/a><\/p>\n

Federal officials have promised that the operation that killed El Mencho will be followed by sustained pressure on the cartel\u2019s networks \u2013 financiers, logistics operators and local bosses. <\/p>\n

But Julio C\u00e9sar Franco Guti\u00e9rrez, a human security specialist and a collaborator with the security council in Apatzing\u00e1n, Michoac\u00e1n, said residents in the hardest-hit towns say what they want most is not a news conference but permanence: reliable policing, protected roads and prosecutors who can pursue cases without being threatened out of office. <\/p>\n

Mexico\u2019s security strategy in recent years has often leaned heavily toward protecting major cities and economic nodes \u2013 where disruption is visible and politically costly \u2013 while leaving smaller jurisdictions to municipal forces with insufficient resources.<\/p>\n

Mr. Franco said \u201cthis moment is a window of opportunity, and we don\u2019t know which of the actors in positions of power will take advantage of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Members of the Civil Guard of Michoacan patrol a road in Aguililla.ENRIQUE CASTRO\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

While the retaliatory action from the cartels has been blockades, communities that have long lived under the rule of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel are more concerned about how the organization will reorder itself. <\/p>\n

Father Vergara was skeptical. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis event marks a historic moment, but it does not mean all the work is finished,\u201d he said, referring to El Mencho\u2019s death. \u201cOn the contrary, now we must watch how the cartel reorganizes and what consequences will follow, internally and externally.\u201d <\/p>\n

He said regular people have always been caught in the middle.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not see in the official discourse a strategy that seeks to use this moment to dismantle criminal organizations,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have a long history of \u2018decapitating\u2019 these organizations \u2013 that is, capturing or killing the leaders who head them \u2013 but this does not stop the criminal machinery.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Members of the Civil Guard of Michoacan patrol a highway supported by armored…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":498407,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,43,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,44,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,41,39,42,40,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":{"0":"post-498406","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-canada","15":"tag-canada-news","16":"tag-canada-sports","17":"tag-canada-sports-news","18":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","19":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","20":"tag-canadian-news","21":"tag-economy","22":"tag-education","23":"tag-environment","24":"tag-federal-government","25":"tag-foreign-news","26":"tag-globe-and-mail","27":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","29":"tag-government","30":"tag-headlines","31":"tag-life-news","32":"tag-lifestyle","33":"tag-local-news","34":"tag-manitoba","35":"tag-national-news","36":"tag-new-brunswick","37":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","38":"tag-news","39":"tag-northwest-territories","40":"tag-nova-scotia","41":"tag-nunavut","42":"tag-ontario","43":"tag-pei","44":"tag-photos","45":"tag-political-news","46":"tag-political-opinion","47":"tag-politics","48":"tag-politics-news","49":"tag-quebec","50":"tag-sports-news","51":"tag-technology","52":"tag-top-news","53":"tag-top-stories","54":"tag-topnews","55":"tag-topstories","56":"tag-travel","57":"tag-trudeau","58":"tag-us-news","59":"tag-world-news","60":"tag-yukon"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=498406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/498407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}