El Mencho killed; Mexico burns

On February 22, Mexican armed forces, with US intelligence support, killed Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes—"El Mencho"—head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Within hours, cartel gunmen torched vehicles, blocked highways, and turned Guadalajara into a ghost town. Twenty-five National Guard members died in the clashes. The operation is being processed as a victory by security hawks and as a prelude to chaos by regional analysts. No successor has emerged.

The gap: celebration of a decapitation strategy that has never stabilised Mexico—the same playbook, the same faith, the same aftermath. The processing cannot metabolise what the strategy actually produces.