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‘Mexico is no man’s pinata’
On the evening of November 1, 2025, Carlos Manzo she was out celebrating the Day of the Dead and carrying her infant son, who was dressed in a skeleton costume for the candlelight vigil. The popular, cowboy hat-wearing mayor of Uruapan in Michoacan has spoken out against the terrorist threat to his region and called on the government to intervene. Manzo put his son down to talk to his people, and after some time, a young man with a gun arrived and shot him seven times.
Demonstrations are violence erupted, the result of years of frustration and a seemingly endless conspiracy. The prosecutors accused Sheinbaum of leading a “narco government”.
Sheinbaum responded with a more assertive approach than his predecessor. Under his leadership, security forces seized drug cartels and released leaders such as Mencho. This has been successful. But, according to Amnesty International, while the total number of murders decreased by 27 percent last year, the number of murders increased by 10.5 percent, which led some to question the figures.
“I think (the decline) has to do with a lot of things – with the rise in missing persons in Mexico, but also with the methods the government uses to try to kill people,” said MUCD’s Reyes.
“When they find human remains, they classify them as human remains, not for murder, but for the unknown…
Since 2006, more than 130,000 people have done so he has disappeared in Mexico, in the hands of gangs and security forces (although the authorities deny this). Search parties continue to find many graves, and mother They roam the graves with the stench of death, searching corpses for their missing children.
In March last year, activists created a an interesting realization. At an abandoned farm in the state of Jalisco, the birthplace of tequila, volunteers unearthed charred bone fragments, teeth and, tragically, hundreds of pairs of shoes. The site is believed to be a disposal site used by the CJNG. The three ovens that were found at the site were believed to have been cremated in anticipation of disposing of the victims.
The discovery shocked the nation and Sheinbaum ordered an investigation into his disappearance. The authorities reduced the 130,000 to 43,600 who had reasons to continue looking. But the victimized families they argued This reduced the problem: about 72,100 bodies had been deposited in the mite shelters in Mexico.
“Lack of information prevents authorities from investigating and finding a missing person, so they prioritize,” Reyes said.
“But it is such a big problem that there is a feeling that the government is not doing enough.”
In April, when the UN committee he finished that the end in Mexico often involved the authorities and seemed to violate the people, Sheinbaum strike againsaying that “there is no forced termination by the government,” and blaming criminal groups.
The problem of drug traffickers in Mexico has also become a political football north of the border, where more and more people have been killed. more than 100,000 Americans annually in the early 2020s – mostly from fentanyl, an opioid produced in Mexico using Chinese medicine.
“Cartels are fighting America, and it’s time for America to fight the cartels,” Trump said. he said last year.
Shortly after returning to the White House, Trump threatened tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China on fentanyl and undocumented immigration. Mexico responded with high-level talks and direct talks between Sheinbaum and Trump, and the tariff threats were repeatedly delayed or modified as negotiations continued.
The tariffs were supposed to take effect on March 4, 2025, but Sheinbaum reached out to Trump and provided information showing a decrease in fentanyl seizures at the border after he sent in his military. Soon after, Trump announced that he would remove most of the tariffs, though not the tariffs on goods such as steel and aluminum.
“Despite high US tariffs on Mexican steel, aluminum, copper and automobiles, among others, many Mexican goods that meet the USMCA’s basic rules enter the US for free,” said David Gantz, a fellow at the Baker Institute for Public Policy.
Sheinbaum understands that arguing with Trump won’t help.
“So she’s been very passionate and smart about this, I would say…Claudia has made sure she’s very aligned with the United States,” Correa-Cabrera said. “But at the same time, I’m working with his support, saying, ‘We don’t want to intervene. We want to be independent.’
Claudia has confirmed that she is working with the United States.
The latest run of the economy came on July 1, when the USMCA review was due. Originally signed by Trump in 2018 as a replacement for NAFTA — which he called “the worst trade deal ever” — his administration has refused to renew the USMCA in its current form. Negotiations will continue for years to force the two most closely related businesses and US officials to agree (for example, to expand auto parts regulations and other protection policies).
While Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has been openly disparaging, the use of retribution and retaliation. to swear The US “will not order again,” Sheinbaum’s welcoming approach to Trump’s demands could lead to a better deal with Mexico.
“Sheinbaum seems to be doing well in maintaining good relations with Mr. Trump, especially compared to Carney,” Gantz said, implying that Mexico could continue to reap tangible benefits.
Despite campaigning against NAFTA, Sheinbaum appears to have changed his mind about free trade — or, at least, taken a more positive approach.
“It seems clear to me that Sheinbaum, as a smart politician, realized long ago that NAFTA/USMCA was critical to the success of the Mexican economy,” Gantz said.
“Sheinbaum is a strong supporter of the USMCA and, in my opinion, will do everything in his power to ensure Mexico’s access to the US market.”
Sheinbaum has repeatedly indicated that she is willing to cooperate with Trump while maintaining a hard line on US interference. Last February, he signed a deal to extradite 29 drug lords but suspended any talk of US troops on Mexican soil – a sore point, given how Mexico lost half of its territory in the Mexican-American War of the 1840s.
“We have a saying here in Mexico, which says: ‘Far from God, but very close to the United States!'” laughed Gomez Perez, expressing the frustration of the Mexican people for being trapped in the powerful image of America.
In any case, solving the cartel problem will take more than organizing the gangs, because this does not solve the need for drugs. Sheinbaum has criticized the United States for not doing enough about alcoholism. But corruption in the Mexican government complicates the picture. In April, US prosecutors indicted Sinaloa state governor Ruben Rocha Moya for his ties to the Sinaloa Cartel. He was a politician of Morena and an associate of AMLO and Sheinbaum, who questioned the evidence.
“The way the United States has used its drug policy, it is better to continue to pressure the Mexican government,” said Correa-Cabrera, author of Carteles, Inc., adding that the allegations of narcotics are well-known and that Sheinbaum is “probably right” to demand evidence.
As US pressure grows, Sheinbaum has criticized foreign interference.
“When the idea that another country can interfere with things that are the responsibility of the Mexican people becomes permanent, we are no longer talking about cooperation; we are talking about interference,” said Sheinbaum recently.
“A legitimate question arises: Is it a legitimate, genuine interest to help Mexico? Is it a legitimate interest to fight crime?”
“No!” sang the chorus in the crowd.
“Mexico,” Sheinbaum announced, “no pinata!”
Pushing back against Trump’s pressure has boosted Sheinbaum’s image at home.
“Defending the freedoms that the president has publicly declared, refusing the entry of US troops into Mexico, I think has made his image stronger,” Reyes said.
“The impeachment of the governor Rocha Moya hurts the image that Sheinbaum has created. But I think his popularity is still high in Mexico, because of his views against these interventionist policies from the United States.”
Despite concerns about crime, Sheinbaum is still very popular and has a 68 percent approval rating, according to May. Enkoll poll. Most appreciated are its interactive, free programs universal health care it will start next year.
“I think he’s changed a lot as he’s gotten older,” Gomez Perez said.
He looked back at their school activities, and saw their emotions.
“If there was a social problem, we would go immediately to see what we could do: maybe support the strike, maybe help the farmers’ group,” he said.
“We used to do random things, quick to act and provide support. I think now he is more mature, because he thinks about the decisions he makes, analyzes them and discusses them with other people in his team…
But not everyone is optimistic.
Last year, Sheinbaum came under fire for pushing for a sweeping justice reform that would have allowed voters to elect judges statewide, but critics said Morena used unfair means to favor conservatives.
“There is a lot of corruption, impunity, and now there is a lot of power in Mexico in the party, and it is not very different from what the PRI was,” Correa-Cabrera thought.
