Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, is facing international backlash after denouncing the country’s decades-long war on drugs, calling it a “fascist” strategy that violates the rights of drug traffickers. In a controversial statement during a press conference this week, Sheinbaum said her administration will not resume military-style operations against cartels—despite a surge in cartel violence and mounting civilian deaths.
“Not an option,” Sheinbaum declared, arguing that prior administrations’ policies amounted to extrajudicial killings and ignored due process. “The war against the narco is illegal,” she said. “It’s permission to kill, without any trial… It raised the number of murders and the level of violence.”
Her remarks come just days after the assassination of Carlos Manzo, the mayor of Uruapan, Michoacán. Manzo had gained international attention for confronting cartel power in his city and was shot and killed by a cartel-linked gunman on November 1 during a public Day of the Dead event. His murder has sparked widespread protests across Michoacán, with furious citizens setting fire to government buildings and demanding action.
Rather than doubling down on law enforcement or military crackdowns, Sheinbaum rejected what she described as “authoritarian” approaches. “These calls to go back to that are a call to fascism,” she stated.
The backlash hasn’t been limited to inside Mexico. Peruvian lawmakers recently cut diplomatic ties with Mexico, accusing Sheinbaum of harboring a corrupt former Peruvian official. They went so far as to declare her “Persona Non-Grata,” labeling Mexico a “narco-state.”
Critics argue Sheinbaum’s rhetoric emboldens cartel leaders and signals a government retreat in the face of escalating violence. As cartels expand their influence and murder rates soar, many inside and outside of Mexico view her approach as dangerous appeasement that sacrifices law and order for ideology.
