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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.