Mexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum has said that there is “no risk” for visitors coming to Fifa World Cup games scheduled to be held in the country, after the death of a top cartel boss triggered a wave of retaliatory violence from gunmen who blocked roads and attacked security forces across the country.
The Mexican military attempted to detain “El Mencho”, the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, in a dawn raid on Sunday, leading to a firefight in which he was fatally wounded, before dying while being airlifted to hospital.
Followers of El Mencho, whose real name is Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, immediately took the streets, blocking almost 100 major roads and attacking national guard bases, particularly in the states of Jalisco and Michoacán. At least 25 soldiers and 34 cartel gunmen died in the fighting.
By Monday the violence had largely ebbed – but local media reported episodes of violence in several rural municipalities of Jalisco province over the night on Monday.
Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco, is due to host four World Cup games. The tournament, which Mexico is co-hosting with the US and Canada, will also involve games in Monterrey and Mexico City, in the iconic Azteca stadium.
Sheinbaum said in her daily press conference on Tuesday that there are “all the guarantees” for the World Cup to be held in Mexico.
Guadalajara and the resort city of Puerto Vallarta, which were all but shutdown by Sunday’s violence, are gradually reopening this week.
“Little by little the situation [in Jalisco] is returning to normal,” said Sheinbaum.
“At Fifa Mexico, we are closely monitoring the situation in Jalisco and remain in constant communication with the authorities,” a Fifa spokesperson told Reuters on Monday.
More details soon …