By Victor Hugo Arteaga*
A new year has begun in Mexico and things do not look stable at all since January 1, with pressures in all sectors and undeniable violence in all corners of the country.
Sinaloa continues to be the focus of violence in an internal war between the forces of Joaquín Guzmán Loera “El Chapo”, his descendants and those loyal to Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who have changed the face of that beautiful state, not for well unfortunately.
Leaving home in Sinaloa is an act of faith, because you don’t know if you will return at night, given the risks of a shootout, an uprising, a crossfire between criminal gangs or confrontations between the “forces of order”, if that is what you call it. you can call.
It is worth highlighting the constant presence of Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch, who tries by all means to get life back to normal in the northern state.
Even so, the latest official information indicates more than 700 homicides in the last five months, that is, from September to January of this year.
But Sinaloa is only a sample of how crime has been gaining ground during the Q4 administration since December 1, 2018, when the left chose a strategy of “hugs and not bullets” against organized crime.
The arrival as undersecretary of state of Christopher Landau, the former United States ambassador to Mexico, and the new Ambassador Ronald Johnson, are a very clear sign that Donald Trump will not play tricks on the bilateral and security relationship during his next administration. .
If the Mexican authorities, including the former president and the current president Claudia Sheimbaum, were bothered by Ken Salazar’s expressions, with Johnson’s presence in Mexico things will not exactly be smooth sailing.
Johnson is a retired general expert, who masters the arts of intelligence and field work, so his presence in Mexico is not to see if he can, but because he can arrive.
With him in Mexico, Trump trusts that together with Chris Landau, his former ambassador to Mexican soil, they will form a dynamic duo in relations with local diplomacy, but very close to the authorities of this country, to give it fluidity and land from the first day of his government an effective strategy to stop illegal migration and the consumption of narcotics, particularly fentanyl.
Landau was an empathetic and much-loved ambassador while he carried out his assignment, always being close to Mexican citizens, with whom he could be seen in any state, chatting and feeding on information at the ground level.
So with a technical specialist in national security and intelligence, in addition to an excellent analyst like Johnson, and Landau’s knowledge of the Mexican countryside, it is expected that the opposition will come from the United States regarding the risks that the Mexican democracy faces.
Johnson has a very clear picture regarding the two main generators of violence in Mexico in terms of criminal groups and comes very strengthened with all the data that the heads imprisoned in United States prisons have provided to the US intelligence agencies.
Landau, as the number two in the State Department, will be of great help to Trump to strengthen and apply his ideas for security and immigration strategies from Mexico.
But it will also play a very important role in the negotiations of free trade agreements, the reforms to the Judiciary in Mexico, since it understands well that the rule of law and democracy tend from a very weak thread in Mexico.
Starting on January 20, we will be able to see how Chris Landau and Ronald Johnson will play a very important role, in tandem, in the Trump Government’s relationship with Mexico and their analyzes and diagnoses will be taken into account by the President of the United States of America. .
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*Víctor Hugo Arteaga is winner of the National Journalism Award 2016 for the investigative report The Ghost Companies of Javier Duarte, the former governor who is imprisoned thanks to that work.
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