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APRIL 24, 2025
VIDEO TRANSLATION
Saucedo is an expert on security issues, national security too, of course, David.
Thank you very much. Thank you for your patience in allowing me to come on air. Nice to meet you. How are you, Pepe? Nice to meet you. To the audience, at your service. Thank you very much. The concern is everyone's. What's happening in Michoacán, Tierra Caliente, Limoneros, and its surrounding areas, part of the state of Jalisco and part of the state of Guanajuato?
The brutal violence that erupted yesterday is attributed to the actions of the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel. However, on the other hand, there is talk that in Guanajuato, the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel no longer has the presence it had three years ago. You will remember that there were countless Oxo convenience stores being burned, vehicle fires. The same thing. What's happening in that area? Why did the violence erupt yesterday suddenly, uh, the way we already described it? David Saucedo.
Today, Omar García Harfush gave a somewhat implausible explanation at the morning press conference. He said that two drug trafficking groups clashed in these three states and that this was what caused a series of narco-blockades, which were broadcast on social media. The population in these three states was on the lookout, expectant, with a dose of panic, because they couldn't move, they couldn't leave, from various towns and cities where these narco-blockades took place.
However, in this region, there are no two groups. There are at least eight groups. In the case of Jalisco, the Jalisco cartel is disputing control of the state with the Nueva Plaza cartel and the Jalisco cartel. In Sinaloa, in the north of the state, with the Nueva Plaza cartel in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, in the area of Penjamo and Abazasolo, where There were six narco-blockades in the state of Guanajuato.
The Jalisco cartel is also disputing control of criminal activity with the Sinaloa cartel and the local mafia, the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel. In the case of Michoacán, in the northern part of the state of Michoacán, where these narco-blockades occurred, there is a dispute between a coalition of drug-trafficking mafias in Michoacán, led by the Cartels United by the Michoacán family, the Knights Templar, Los Viagras, against the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel.
So, there are not two groups in this area. There are at least eight of the ones I just mentioned. On the other hand, organized crime and drug traffickers do not attack each other with narco-blockades. They use other types of tactics and strategies. Normally, narco-blockades are used by of criminal groups to stop the deployment of federal forces, state forces that are trying to carry out a seizure or capture a high-profile drug trafficker. Then it seems a little hard to believe this off-the-record version from the federal government. The story was circulating yesterday, and still is today, that the federal government tried to capture a top commander of the Jalisco cartel. A failed capture operation unleashed this hell in several municipalities and cities in these three states. And in the face of shame, the federal government couldn't, had no choice but to blame this situation that developed in these three states on a confrontation between organized crime groups.
Failed operation, probably a failed operation. Federal forces were unable to capture the target they had planned and calculated, and they are justifying this blunder by blaming organized crime groups for this incident. They were indeed the ones who carried out these narco-blockades. However, in the face of an attempt to capture one of their leaders, it was even mentioned in the name of one of them. The commander of this region is Ricardo Ruiz Velasco, one of the commanders of the Jalisco Cartel, who is second in command of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. They are not directly involved in the objective of El Mencho.
We don't have any data to support this. The last time they tried to capture El Mencho, there were even narco-blockades in more states, I think. If I'm not mistaken, there were six, and they used their entire arsenal, they took it out of their warehouses. The surface-to-air missiles they had and shot down, you will remember, a Black Hawk helicopter belonging to the then federal police. Had they attempted to capture Mecho, I think the situation would have been even more complicated yesterday. The situation of the governors in all this. Why so much silence? It seems to me that they allowed the federal government to provide information about these operations. The federal government took a long time, only until yesterday, sorry, until this morning. We had a final version from the federal government. The governors only mentioned that they were putting out the fires, clearing the roads, removing the vehicles that had been stolen and burned. More from the civil protection perspective, they had finally allowed free traffic on the roads that had been blocked, and the federal government took it upon itself to provide information about what caused it.
This situation was caused by the Michoacán government, which, I believe, without the federal government's agreement, advanced a hypothesis that there had been an operation in Apatingán and that this had caused this confrontation. Later, the federal government corrected it today in the morning press conference, saying that it was more the responsibility of organized crime groups. Well, we thank you very much, David Saucedo, for putting your finger on the sore spot to understand what is happening, especially in light of those who listen to us there, of all the people there who want to know the truth beyond the official discourse.
Thank you, Pepe, I send you a big hug. Also, a very big hug for you, David. Saucedo, specialist consultant on security issues. A very, very brief break. We'll be back.
