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A restless Mexico City erupted this weekend as thousands of demonstrators poured into the Zócalo and pushed past barriers protecting the National Palace, furious over a wave of cartel violence that the government has failed to stop. The scenes were not spontaneous happy-hour politics; they were raw, angry citizens — many young — refusing to accept a future where drug gangs decide who lives and who dies.
The immediate spark was the brutal assassination of Uruapan Mayor Carlos Alberto Manzo Rodríguez, who was gunned down while attending a Day of the Dead event on November 1 after publicly standing up to the cartels. His death shocked a nation and laid bare the cost of permissive policies and political posturing while ordinary Mexicans pay with blood and fear.
What started as a protest of grief and outrage turned violent when a faction of hooded troublemakers tore down metal fencing around the presidential compound and clashed with riot police, leaving scores injured and dozens detained. Mexico City officials reported about 100 officers hurt — 40 of them hospitalized — and at least 20 civilians injured, evidence of how quickly anger can tip into chaos when people feel abandoned by their leaders.
Rather than confront the cartel cancer with decisive, unambiguous force, President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration has been hammered by critics for equivocation and excuses, even suggesting outside actors and bots helped organize the protests. That defense rings hollow to families burying loved ones and mayors who dared to resist the cartels; when governing looks like spin and blame-shifting, citizens will take to the streets.
Sheinbaum has publicly insisted on Mexico’s sovereignty and pushed back against foreign military boots on the ground, rejecting offers for direct U.S. troop assistance while promising more troops and spending to Michoacán — promises that ring thin to those watching cartels gain territory and power. If rhetoric and relocated soldiers are all the administration will offer, the same tragic headlines will keep coming and regional instability will only deepen.
We should salute the courage of ordinary Mexicans who, tired of extortion and murder, stood up and said enough, but we must also be honest about the remedies that work: rule of law, robust intelligence, and international cooperation that doesn’t fetishize political purity over practical results. American policymakers and conservative leaders should press for real security partnerships, streamlined intelligence-sharing, and support for leaders who will refuse to let cartels run cities with impunity.
This is a moment for seriousness, not sermonizing. The deaths in Uruapan and the scenes at the National Palace are a warning to both Mexico and its neighbors: when a state fails to protect its citizens, people will make their voices heard — and history will judge harshly those who chose ideology over the hard work of restoring order and justice.
