This might be getting organized as a color revolution by the US, but it is tapping into the discontent of Mexican citizens suffering from the criminal activity. There was a former Sinaloa Cartel dealer giving interviews after his release from federal prison, and he said government officials would get paid millions to allow the cartel operations to continue unimpeded. Given the rhetoric of the ruling government officials, rather gaslighting than dealing with the concerns of their citizens, it seems to back up the claim of that Sinaloa Cartel dealer.
Farmers and truckers throughout Mexico say they will continue highway blockades and protests throughout the country over the Claudia Sheinbaum government’s failure to protect them from drug cartel violence and extortion schemes. The blockades, which have been set up in over 20 of Mexico’s 31 states, have ground nearly all commerce to a halt.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum‘s far-left MORENA party contends the protests and blockades are not actually about cartel violence but instead politically-motivated acts. Figures in MORENA have claimed that rival political parties are actually organizing the protests, though they have offered little in the way of evidence.
Secretary of the Interior Rosa Icela Rodriguez further claimed that many of the people organizing the protests were the targets of prior federal investigations. Despite Rodriguez’s allegations, officials from her office will meet with some of the demonstrators later this week.
The protests began earlier this week when groups of farmers and truckers used blockades to shut down highways in Mexico. This followed large-scale student protests against Shienbaum in Mexico City earlier this month, which saw barricades around the presidential palace torn down and riot police used to disperse the crowd. Both groups of demonstrators have accused Sheinbaum’s government of failing to address the violence caused by Mexico’s cartels and allege that MORENA may actually be in league with the criminal organizations.
Sheinbaum has resisted calls for the Mexican government to use military force against the drug cartels, despite widespread evidence that they have engaged in extortion schemes, public corruption, and robberies and carjackings. According to MORENA officials, the use of the military would be illegal, as it would deprive cartel members of due process rights.