Will violence decline in Guanajuato after El Marro’s arrest?

Yesterday, federal and state authorities arrested José Antonio Yépez, aka “ El Marro ,” the leader of the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel; however, this doesn’t mean violence will automatically decrease in Guanajuato . If this were the case, the state wouldn’t have registered a surge in homicides for over 10 years. Although authorities arrested dozens of cartel bosses, the situation has only worsened.

Guanajuato can expect a relatively calm period while the criminal organizations restructure, but as EL UNIVERSAL revealed today, authorities expect El Marro’s father and brother to take over the leadership. Nevertheless, the news of his arrest shouldn’t be dismissed. A few weeks ago, José Antonio Yépez threatened the government after authorities arrested his mother and sister.

The arrest must become a lesson for other criminal organizations, they must know that no cartel is above the law. Also, despite the political differences between Guanajuato authorities and the federal government, they collaborated to launch this operation. Violence is not an issue that governments should use for political gain, when this is the case, society is the one who will suffer.

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The strategy that focuses on arresting cartel leaders characterized previous federal governments, yet it had no positive results. In contrast with previous administrations, the current government is also blocking the criminals’ resources, but it hasn’t been able to decrease crime rates or halt criminal operations in the last 20 months. Arresting the leaders is not enough.

In Guanajuato, state and federal authorities must strengthen cooperation to prevent the bloody Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel ( CJNG ) from taking over. For years, the CJNG was engaged in a turf war with “El Marro.”

Amid the fight against crime, it is urgent to attack the organizations on all sides, strengthen cooperation, consolidating investigations into the criminals’ wealth, and working towards the legalization of drugs like marijuana. The sporadic blows to criminal organizations won’t show many results while there is a surge in violence.

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