Mexico's Claudia Sheinbaum Says Previous Administrations Helped Fuel Cartel Violence: 'The War on Drugs Failed'

Over the weekend, Carlos Manzo Rodríguez, mayor of Uruapan in Michoacán, was killed, becoming Mexico's seventh mayor to die this year in such circumstances. Facing criticism, President Claudia Sheinbaum defended her administration's security strategy, saying the current wave of violence stems from the drug war launched under previous governments.

"There are those who call, as happened during the war on drugs, for militarization and confrontation. That did not work. In fact, it was what led to the violence in Michoacán. The war on drugs failed," Sheinbaum said. On the contrary, it created the violence that we are only now starting to reduce."

Sheinbaum defended the security approach the Mexican government has followed since the administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who, under his "hugs, not bullets" policy, sought to avoid direct clashes with drug cartels and emphasized social programs aimed at reducing recruitment into organized crime.

"There were six years under Felipe Calderón and six under Enrique Peña Nieto, and only now has the strategy changed."

During her press conference on Monday, Sheinbaum criticized previous administrations for what she said was their responsibility in fueling the current violence in Michoacán.

"What did they propose for Michoacán? Because it seems people have already forgotten. In December 2006, Calderón declared the war on drugs. And how did he leave Michoacán in 2012? How did Peña arrive, and how did he leave the state in 2018?" Sheinbaum said.

According to Infobae México, Sheinbaum said the government's security strategy will continue under the same national plan, focused on addressing the root causes of violence, strengthening the National Guard, expanding intelligence and investigative work, and improving coordination among state and municipal police and the Attorney General's Office.

After Manzo Rodríguez's death, opposition leaders in Mexico renewed their criticism of Sheinbaum, who responded that the group has offered no concrete alternatives and again rejected the return to a hardline approach.

"What are they proposing? To go back to the war against the cartels? They offer nothing. Their only proposal is nothing more than tough-on-crime policies. What we defend is justice in every sense. Peace and security are the results of justice in its broadest form, from social justice to a justice system that leads us to zero impunity," Sheinbaum said.

Sheinbaum stressed that violence should not be answered with more violence and said that actions must remain within the law.

"There is no way out through violence, and it must be said clearly. As the mayor of Uruapan himself said, young people were not given opportunities for years. They were called 'ninis,' the unemployed and the rejected. This is not about returning to the past, but about building justice, and that is the movement we represent — justice for those who have never had it and, for the good of all, the poor first," she said.

Manzo Rodríguez was attacked Nov. 1 during a Day of the Dead festival in Uruapan. For months, he had publicly appealed to Sheinbaum on social media to help him confront cartels and criminal organizations, and authorities responded by placing him under federal protection in December 2024, three months after he took office.

In May, his protection was reinforced with municipal police and 14 National Guard officers, according to Security Minister Omar García Harfuch's comments following Manzo Rodríguez's death.