El Mencho's Rise: A Product of Profitable American Policy Failures
The recent killing of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as 'El Mencho,' by Mexican special forces, marks the end of a figure described as the leader of Mexico's most powerful criminal organization. Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) is defined by its "ultraviolence" and "military-style arsenal," a narrative carefully constructed to highlight the cartel's brutality while sidestepping the deeper
geopolitical currents that enabled its ascension. What remains unsaid is the direct correlation between US interventionist drug policies and the escalating sophistication of these criminal enterprises. For decades, the United States has poured billions into Mexico under the guise of counter-narcotics efforts, exemplified by the Merida Initiative, launched in 2007. This initiative, designed to
provide military aid and training, has effectively militarized the conflict, contributing to a 2018 study by researchers at the University of San Diego that found little evidence of effectiveness in reducing drug violence and may have exacerbated it. This influx of advanced weaponry and tactics into a region prone to corruption created a vacuum for figures like 'El Mencho' to exploit, acquiring
the very tools meant to suppress them. His career began after an earlier US-backed offensive against the Sinaloa cartel, illustrating a recurring pattern of kingpin strategies inadvertently empowering new, often more brutal, successors. Consider a documented double standard: the swift and decisive action taken against cartel leaders in Mexico stands in stark contrast to the historical leniency