What comes next will not resemble a clean succession. It will be a struggle over who holds the center of gravity inside the organization, and that result is not preordained. Many Mexicans fear a troubling third scenario: a bloody power struggle that fragments the cartel, opening new fronts of conflict in an already volatile criminal landscape.
Mexico's Attorney General's Office said on Monday that authorities have identified five bodies found at a property in El Verde, a rural locality in the state of Sinaloa, and are working to identify the remains of five other people. It is important to note that prosecutorial authorities have remained in contact with the victims' relatives, the office said in a statement. In the cases where the bodies have already been identified, they will be transferred to the states of Zacatecas in two cases, as well as to Chihuahua, Sonora, and Guerrero, it added.
Gunmen opened fire at a football match in central Mexico on Sunday, killing at least 11 people and wounding 12, authorities said. Cesar Prieto, the mayor of the town of Salamanca in central Guanajuato state, said in a statement posted to social media platforms that the gunmen arrived at the end of a match. Ten people were killed at the scene and one died later at a hospital. Prieto said a woman and a child were among the wounded.
The mariachi band had just struck up its first ranchera when Axel grabbed his mother's hand. Come on, mama! the lanky 16-year-old shouted, spinning Daniela beneath a canopy of paper lanterns glowing in the warm night air. The courtyard pulsed with music and laughter as cousins joined in, skirts twirling and shoes scuffing the ground.
