President blames the US for bloodshed in Sinaloa as cartel violence surges

CULIACAN, Mexico (AP): Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador blamed the United States on Thursday for the surge in cartel violence terrorising the northern state of Sinaloa which has left at least 30 people dead in the past week.

Two warring factions of the Sinaloa cartel have clashed in the state capital of Culiacan in what appears to be a fight for power. Teams of gunmen have engaged one another and the security forces, and more dead bodies continue to pop up in the city.

On Thursday afternoon, another military operation covered the north of the city with military and circling helicopters.

Traffic was heavy in Culiacan and most schools were open, even though parents were still not sending their children to classes. Businesses continue to close early and few people venture out after dark. While the city has slowly reopened and soldiers patrol the streets, many families continue to hide away, with parents and teachers fearing they’ll be caught in the crossfire.

“Where is the security for our children, for ourselves too, for all citizens? It’s so dangerous here, you don’t want to go outside,” one Culiacan mother told the Associated Press.

On Thursday afternoon, another military operation covered the north of the city with helicopters circling overhead.

The mother, who didn’t want to share her name out of fear of the cartels, said that while some schools have recently reopened, she hasn’t allowed her daughter to go for two weeks. She said she was scared to do so after armed men stopped a taxi they were traveling in on their way home, terrifying her child.

The surge in violence had been expected after Joaquín Guzmán López, a son of former Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán, landed near El Paso, Texas on July 25 in a small plane with Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada.

Zambada was the cartel’s elder figure and reclusive leader. After his arrest, he said in a letter circulated by his lawyer that he had been abducted by the younger Guzmán and taken to the US against his will.

During his morning press briefing on Thursday, López Obrador claimed that American authorities were responsible for the violence because of the capture of Zambada, a wild saga that has puzzled many across the region.

The Mexican populist claimed American authorities “carried out that operation” and that “it was totally illegal, and agents from the Department of Justice were waiting for Mr. Mayo”.

“If we are now facing instability and clashes in Sinaloa, it is because they (the American government) made that decision,” he said.

He added that there “cannot be a cooperative relationship if they take unilateral decisions” like this. Mexican prosecutors have said they were considering bringing treason charges against those involved in the plan to nab Zambada.