LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Over the next couple of days, Mexico plans to reopen schools and stores in the state of Jalisco. They've been closed during an eruption of violence. People responded to the military killing a man known as El Mencho, Mexico's most powerful drug lord. In a few minutes, we'll hear from a former DEA official about what El Mencho's death means for the fight against organized crime. We start with the latest from Mexico.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
NPR's Eyder Peralta is in Jalisco's capital, Guadalajara. Eyder, good morning.
EYDER PERALTA, BYLINE: Hey. Good morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: OK, so we've followed the reporting in recent days. El Mencho was killed, and then gunmen burned down businesses and banks and blocked roads with burning cars. What's the scene like now?
PERALTA: I mean, here in Guadalajara, it's quiet. It's eerily quiet. It's like a COVID lockdown. The streets are empty. The stores are closed. On some streets, there are still burnt-out cars in the medians. But the violence that happened on Sunday hasn't happened again. And yesterday, I saw people starting to venture out.
I met one family of American tourists who were stranded. Their flight out had been canceled. They were scared, but they came out with their daughter to feed the pigeons in one of the plazas. I also stumbled into Miguel Quintero (ph). He said the hotel where he was staying had run out of food, so he had gone out to find something to eat. On Sunday, he got caught in the middle of a shootout. But what he's worried about is the future.
MIGUEL QUINTERO: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: And he lives in neighboring state of Michoacan. And he thinks even there the violence is going to get worse. And he says this from personal experience. Every time authorities have beheaded a cartel here in Mexico, it splinters and it provokes a bloody fight for power.
INSKEEP: Knowing that, what is the Mexican government strategy here?
PERALTA: It's interesting because President Claudia Sheinbaum has said over and over again that she doesn't want to start a new war against organized crime here in Mexico, because she says the governments before her have tried it and they have only led to bloodshed. And she says that the way to deal with this, to actually deal with this, is to - is with root causes, so education and jobs. But she now also has the United States pressuring Mexico for a more frontal fight. President Trump has continually said Mexico is too scared to take on the cartels. And he has threatened to take unilateral military actions to deal with it.
Analysts I spoke to say this decision to take out Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, or El Mencho, on Sunday was Mexico responding to that pressure. And look; this does mark a major shift for the country. Remember that Mexico's previous president and Sheinbaum's mentor used to call his approach to organized crime, hugs not bullets. And this appears to be President Sheinbaum charting her own course with a more muscular and violent approach toward organized crime here in Mexico.
INSKEEP: OK. So if this is the approach, then can the government keep it up? Can they keep using force?
PERALTA: I think there's no doubt that they have the firepower to do it, but it's going to be costly. Just during this operation, 25 national guardsmen were killed. Yesterday, during a press conference, General Ricardo Trevilla Trejo, the defense minister, was on the verge of tears delivering his condolences to the families who lost loved ones.
But he made it clear, despite the losses, they completed their mission, he said. And what did they prove, he asked? They proved the might of the Mexican state, he said. So I would say there is some real tension here. It seems like a fork in the road. And the big question is whether Mexico is about to go into an era where it fights drug cartels with some real firepower.
INSKEEP: NPR's Eyder Peralta is reporting from Guadalajara and will continue to update us on whatever happens. Thanks so much.
PERALTA: Thanks, Steve. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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