Jürgen Buchenau joins WCNC+ Live Impact News to discuss ‘El Mencho’
On Monday, Feb. 23, Jürgen Buchenau, Ph.D., joined WCNC+ Live Impact News to discuss the significance of the killing of the Mexican cartel leader Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, commonly referred to as “El Mencho.”
Buchenau is the Dowd Term Chair of Capitalism Studies, a professor of history and Latin American studies and an expert on Mexican history.
Oseguera died from gunshot wounds on Feb. 22 after a Mexican military operation aided by U.S. intelligence. His death triggered widespread violence by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), including road blockades, vehicle fires and deadly clashes with the Mexican National Guard.
“It’s really the culmination of a more than fifty year story in what we call the ‘War on Drugs,’ both here and in Mexico,” Buchenau explained. “Obviously the killing of Mexico’s major drug kingpins, Nemesio Oseguera, is an absolutely major deal.”
As head of the CJNG, one of Mexico’s leading criminal organizations, Oseguera was wanted for drug trafficking, organized crime involvement and possession of firearms. Both the U.S. government and the Mexican government were offering rewards of up to US$15 million and MXN$300 million for information leading to his arrest.
“His cartel is a multibillion dollar industry, a cartel that goes far beyond just drugs into legitimate businesses, and that operates probably in 29 of Mexico’s 32 states,” said Buchenau. “So we can’t minimize the significance of capturing and killing this criminal.”