On the day the Mexican military killed Mexico’s most-wanted cartel boss, Ximena Mercado’s phone lit up with countless notifications from her family in Mexico, describing a rapidly shifting landscape around them.
“I just remember that day in the group chat, everyone was talking about how they were locked inside of their houses, how many streets were closed off and all the airports that were closed off,” Mercado, a freshman legal studies student, said.
Amid a wave of chaos and unrest outside, Mercado’s family was trapped in the middle of the turmoil.
“My cousin was working a shift at the hospital and she was stuck there because she had no way of getting home with everything happening outside,” she added.
On February 22, the Mexican military killed notorious drug lord Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, commonly known as “El Mencho,” after special forces tracked him to his mountain compound in Tapalpa, Jalisco.
El Mencho was one of the top fugitives in both Mexico and the United States as the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the country’s largest cartel. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration had offered a $15 million reward for anyone with information on his whereabouts.
Following Oseguera Cervantes’ death, cartel members across the country retaliated by setting buildings on fire and burning vehicles to create blockades. According to journalist and policy analyst Chris Dalby, these blockades are intended for a cartel to “make a show of strength”, signaling that the death of El Mencho does not mark the end of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
The violence quickly spread through densely populated cities popular with tourists, including Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara. Over 70 people have died since the retaliatory attacks began and multiple airlines have cancelled flights to both destinations, according to BBC.
Freshman economics and data science student Viviana Castillo Ramos said her family in Puerto Vallarta has mostly stayed inside their home out of fear. With little warning about the unfolding violence, her relatives were unable to leave before the blockades were set up, she said.
“We haven’t been able to contact them often,” Castillo Ramos explained. “It’s been difficult to not be able to hear their voices and know if they’re okay. I’ve had a few midterms this week and I haven’t been able to fully focus on that, knowing in the back of my mind my close family is always in danger and fearing for their lives.”
Alizé Orozco, a freshman biochemistry student, said the violence has disrupted her family’s day-to-day living situation, forcing some relatives and friends who were able to leave to flee their home cities entirely.
“My aunt in Guadalajara had to leave to San Luis because of the worry that they had,” she explained.
Orozco said she calls her grandma every day, worried about her safety because she “know[s] how dangerous the cartel can be,” she said.
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum held a press conference on February 23 alongside Mexico’s security chief Omar Garcia Harfuch and Secretary of National Defense Ricardo Trevilla Trejo to address the ongoing unrest. Sheinbaum urged the public to remain calm as the Mexican government handles the retaliatory violence from cartel members and as fire departments work to extinguish fires.
“The most important thing at this moment is to guarantee peace and safety for all the population of Mexico. And that is being done,” Sheinbaum said at the conference.
As the conflict has unfolded, students expressed frustration that much of the U.S. media coverage has focused on the impact on American tourists rather than the experiences of Mexican locals.
“They’ve definitely framed it as a tourist issue… I’ve seen on various social media platforms people being very tone-deaf about the situation,” Mercado said.
Orozco said she believes much of this detachment stems largely from ignorance.
“A lot of Americans are out of touch. Mexico is more than a vacation spot. It’s more than just some place you go for your 21st birthday or spring break,” she added.
Mercado added that this focus can feel deeply misplaced.
“I just feel like people care more about having to cancel their trip rather than the actual safety of these Mexican citizens… It’s hard to see that stuff knowing that my family and thousands of families are affected,” she said.
Orozco echoed this concern, emphasizing that many of her peers feel distant from the realities on the ground.
“I wish that these people could put themselves in my family’s shoes.”