A Cartel Without Its Boss,
Pushing Into Indigenous Land

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If you asked someone born and raised in Nahuatzen, Michoacan, about June 11, what would they tell you? On that day, the opening ceremony of the World Cup began at the Azteca Stadium in the capital, with Shakira on stage. Some 900 kilometers north, in a town in the hills, five police officers were shot dead and five more were badly wounded. The suspects are believed to belong to a group tied to the CJNG (Jalisco New Generation Cartel). Same country, same single day.

The Boss Died, but the Cartel Did Not Shrink

On February 22, the Mexican army killed Ruben Oseguera Cervantes in Tapalpa, Jalisco. Known as El Mencho, he was the founder who had led the CJNG. Many assumed that the loss of such a figure would shake the cartel.

The reality went the other way. Retaliatory shootings broke out across several areas that same day, and those vying for the succession have tried to prove their strength by expanding territory. When a leader disappears, these groups do not grow quiet. The internal contest over the vacant seat spills out as attacks on everyone nearby. The events in Nahuatzen sit on that same current.

Purepecha Land as a Front Line

Nahuatzen lies within the territory of the Purepecha people. The Purepecha are known for communities where the autodefensas, the self-defense groups, function relatively well. They set up their own checkpoints, blockade roads, and have kept resisting the cartels.

Even so, the CJNG has not stopped pushing into Michoacan in recent years. The state prosecutor (FGE) has confirmed that Colombian operatives are assisting local operations. The Purepecha region also holds mineral mining interests, which line up neatly with the cartel's reasons for expanding. Land defended through self-governance has now become a front line.

When Celebration and Violence Fall on the Same Day

While singing filled the Azteca, gunfire rang out in Michoacan. The contrast captures Mexico as it is today. The fact that the World Cup drew the world's eyes to the capital and the coastal cities does not mean the interior suddenly lost its security. Still, the places where the media's light falls are inevitably uneven.

When a dazzling day and a bloody day overlap, telling one story tends to obscure the other. What happens on Indigenous land is easily hidden in the shadow of the opening ceremony. That is exactly why I want to set it down here.

An organization that loses its boss does not fall quiet. The fight over the empty seat simply turns outward.

※ This article is the author’s commentary based on public information. Please confirm the latest figures, dates and procedures with governments and primary sources. Quotations are kept minimal and sources are cited.