Claudia Sheinbaum responded to a New York Times publication that suggested Mexico's drug trafficking problem is rooted in circles of power, which the president dismissed as a work of 'science fiction.' 'We wouldn't have the results we have if there were collusion with crime,' the president stated firmly at her morning press conference, held this Friday in Michoacán, where the government is focusing a strategy to combat drug trafficking following the murder of Carlos Manzo. 'Perhaps Sheinbaum is not personally afraid of the cartels; after all, she continues to tour the country, attending rallies and outdoor events.' 'The article is fiction because there is no evidence,' she said. The opinion piece, signed by journalist Mary Beth Sheridan, argues that there is something President Donald Trump fails to understand in his insistence on using military forces against the cartels: that it involves not only confronting criminal groups but also dismantling the country's political groups. 'How deeply entrenched is organized crime in the political system?' 'Everyone forgot about García Luna, where there was proof that the top national security official was linked to drug trafficking,' she said. The timing of the publication comes after the arrest of Tequila mayor Diego Rivera Navarro as part of the 'Swarm' Operation led by Omar García Harfuch. A Morena member who had Sheinbaum's backing, which caused a stir in public opinion. The president defended the arrest, stating: 'No political party, and certainly not Morena, can be an umbrella for criminal activity or corruption; this must be made very clear in the country.' She also clarified that it occurred following complaints, not other forms of pressure. The day before, the president was also questioned by a BBC reporter about the lack of results in the security strategy in Sinaloa and Trump's insistence on claiming that the cartels govern Mexico. 'However, she may be wary of confronting a system of collusion with organized crime, especially when her control over Morena, riddled with factions, is unstable,' the journalist notes. Harfuch confirms the arrest of the Morena mayor of Tequila, linked to the Jalisco Cartel. In the article, Sheridan draws on the research of historian Benjamin Smith to contextualize how criminal groups colluded with politicians in power since the 1970s during the PRI era, a situation that neither the PAN when it was in power nor Morena now has reversed. The text references current politicians and officials, such as the case of Herán Bermúdez, who was Secretary of Security for Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and uses Tabasco as an example of these networks of protection for drug criminals. Sheinbaum, for her part, dismissed the article and claimed it is part of a campaign that began during the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador. It was there that Sheinbaum took the opportunity to revisit the article published the day before in the U.S. newspaper. 'Only one entity governs: the people of Mexico,' Sheinbaum responded when questioned by the press this morning.
