Mexican Cartel Violence Explodes — Meanwhile America Is Wide Open

A new paramilitary force has appeared in southern Mexico, claiming to have formed in order to protect against another paramilitary group with ties to the cartel. Paramilitary organizations are growing at a time when Mexico’s government is struggling to control the country’s epidemic of cartel violence. Criminal groups openly defy and subdue law enforcement and armed troops.

An organization calling itself the Civil Army of the Indigenous People of Panthelo has started releasing videos and comments from the southern Mexican state of Chiapas proclaiming to be taking up weapons. According to the group, it was founded to protect locals from Los Machetes, an additional paramilitary organization.

Los Machetes initially gained notoriety in 2021 when they started carrying out a string of attacks on Sinaloa Cartel-affiliated cells and political targets in the area. News reports from the period claim that Los Machetes engaged in ambush-style attacks, utilized explosives, and demonstrated highly developed tactical skills.

According to Breitbart Texas’s inquiries, Los Machetes is affiliated with the Cartel Jalisco New Generation. If a drug cartel is controlling the new group that emerged in Chiapas, it is yet unknown.

Following the abduction of 16 police officers in another region of that state by cartel gunmen, additional paramilitary forces have recently arrived in southern Mexico. According to Breitbart Texas, the gang used the kidnappings as leverage to have corrupt government personnel fired.

After Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador made jokes about the situation by saying that if the cartel gunmen didn’t free their captives, he “would inform their parents,” the episode created a great deal of controversy. The shooters eventually freed the victims, but police have not yet made any arrests.