The day the monster roared
The news came like thunder in a clear sky. In the forested mountains of Tapalpa, Jalisco, federal forces achieved what seemed impossible: kill Nemesio ‘El Mencho’ Oseguera, mastermind of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
But the monster, even mortally wounded, had one last bite ready.
“As a result of the operation, violent reactions were recorded by a criminal group in different entities,” confirmed Omar García Harfuch, Secretary of Security.
What followed was a coordinated horror show. Eleven states lit like matches. Eighty-five blockades on federal highways. Vehicles set on fire, gas stations attacked, shootings against authorities.
The human cost was brutal. Twenty-five members of the National Guard died. A woman oblivious to the events, fallen in the crossfire. Thirty alleged cartel members killed.
In Jalisco, the land of Mencho, the response was more ferocious: eighteen blockades and six direct attacks. Michoacán, Guanajuato, Guerrero… the geography of fear spread across half the country.
The State’s response
While the streets burned, the security cabinet activated war protocols. A command center with Defense, Navy and National Guard took operational control.
“The objective was to contain the actions of criminal groups, protect citizens and free roads,” Harfuch stressed.
The strategy worked—at least temporarily. As night fell, the blockades began to disappear. Seventy arrests in seven states. The main roads, freed.
But the question that we all ask ourselves in coffee remains: what now?
The CJNG has just demonstrated that it has tentacles in eleven states and the capacity to paralyze half a nation. Killing the king doesn’t always kill the kingdom—sometimes it just angers the court.
Harfuch made the expected call: stay calm, trust the institutions. He promised that the command center will continue to operate until order is fully restored.
But here, among us journalists who have covered this war for decades, we know the inconvenient truth. Today we won an epic battle against the most wanted boss. But the war against his organization—that well-oiled machine of violence—has just entered its most unpredictable chapter.
Political theater has its Greek tragedies. This could be one where the hero falls… and the monster is still breathing.
