Sawt Falasteen - Mexico's Sheinbaum steps up cartel fight after murder of anti-narco mayor

Outraged by the killing of Carlos Manzo, the 40-year-old mayor of the city of Uruapan in Michoacan state, dozens of protesters set fire to public buildings over two days of demonstrations across the region.

Manzo, who shot to fame chasing gang members from the air in a cowboy hat, was gunned down at a public event Saturday marking Mexico's Day of the Dead.

In just over a year as mayor in the country's avocado-growing heartland, he became known as the "Mexican Bukele" after El Salvador's popular gang-busting president Nayib Bukele.

His death stoked anger towards regional authorities, accused of failing to support him in the fight against the region's myriad cartels.

"He had the voice we were all waiting for," student Sofia Caseres told AFP during a protest over Manzo's murder.

State governor Alfredo Ramirez Bedolla, of Sheinbaum's Morena party, was booed by mourners at the mayor's funeral Sunday.

Manzo's killing comes as US President Donald Trump pressures Mexico to crack down on the ultra-violent gangs who control much of the world's drug trade.

Sheinbaum reacted to the murder by announcing a joint drive by federal forces and local prosecutors to combat murders and extortion in Michoacan.

Manzo was shot in the head, despite heavy security.

He was highly critical of Sheinbaum's mentor, ex-president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, or AMLO, who advocated an approach of "hugs, not bullets" to areas plagued by drug trafficking.

"These are the hugs we give to criminals," Manzo wrote on Facebook in May, alongside a video of a helicopter chase of suspected thieves.

Sheinbaum has distanced herself from AMLO's approach since taking office a year ago.

Under her watch, Mexico has extradited 55 senior cartel leaders and other fugitives to the United States, made record hauls of fentanyl, the opioid blamed for thousands of US overdose deaths, and stepped up intelligence gathering.

She points to a drop in homicides, which averaged 59.5 cases per day in September compared with 86.9 in the same month in 2024, as proof her strategy is yielding results.

Security expert David Saucedo said the drop in murders could, however, be due to the emergence of "hegemonic" cartels that pacify areas under their control, rather than more effective policing.

- 'Fed up' -

Manzo's death underscored the risk to local politicians and community leaders who dare take on Mexico's bloodthirsty cartels.

In Michoacan, drug traffickers supplement their income by extorting local farmers.

Carlos Bautista, an avocado producer and friend of Manzo, entered local politics because he was "fed up" with violence after his father was held for ransom.

He too has been threatened.

"We are afraid, but we will endure it," he told AFP by telephone.

Two weeks ago, Bernardo Bravo, leader of the lemon growers union of Michoacan who was also vocal in his condemnation of criminal gangs, was murdered.

- Pressure from Trump -

Two days after Manzo's murder NBC News reported that the Trump administration was training troops for a potential attack against cartels on Mexican soil.

An operation inside Mexico would mark a dramatic escalation of Trump's military campaign against Latin American drug traffickers.

So far, Mexico has been relatively spared by US strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific that have killed at least 65 people in recent weeks.

Cecilia Farfan, of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, said Manzo's murder was likely to be used by supporters of a US intervention as "evidence" of the need for action.

Sheinbaum, dubbed the "Trump whisperer" for her ability to win the ear of her US counterpart, however discounted the likelihood of such attacks.

"That won't happen," she insisted Tuesday.

N.Awad--SF-PST