Anwar Ali

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Editorial Cartoons

From El Mencho, With Love

Mexican drug cartels' reign of terror on innocent citizens is notorious. Details of the savagery are well documented by those who arguably face the most danger of all: journalists. Rival gangs have long competed for turf, clients and power. As the once formidable Sinaloa Cartel, by some accounts, fades into decline—with the once indefatigable former leader Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán securely held in a place from where even he can't break out—a rival cartel recently used an unusual tactic to advance its standing.

Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación, or CJNG, led by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes or "El Mencho," competed for the affections of children by handing out toys in small towns. The gesture was perceivably intended to humanise its violent members, but behind this act of community outreach is an ominous motive. If fear wasn't enough to dissuade informants, perhaps this supposed act of kindness might.

The psychological manipulation of children—possible recruits one day who may naively romanticise about the lifestyles of larger-than-life figures like El Mencho and El Chapo—is indisputable. But imagine the innocence lost by grown men who were once that young. This editorial cartoon captures a moment of contemplation, when a CJNG narco faces two contradictory commands.