Trent Barr

Latin America Desk Chief

With years of specialized training, Trent brings deep expertise to his role as the Latin America Desk Chief for Atlas News, where he provides critical insights and analysis on regional developments.

Good morning, and welcome to The Situation Room. Today we’re getting into:

The alleged assassination of a CJNG recruiter in a massacre that took the lives of a total of 10 people, Turkey's CANiK Academy training elite units of Mali's military, and tensions between the ELN and Colombian government.

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Four Arrested in Connection to Murder of Director of Police, Mexico

By: Trent Barr, Latin America Desk Chief

Ten people were killed while 13 others were wounded following a shooting at a bar in Querétaro in an attack that Omar Hamid García, Mexico’s Minister of Security, has claimed to have been a planned assassination against one of the victims. The target of the alleged assassination plot was identified as Fernando “La Flaca” González Núñez, an alleged member of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) who was responsible for recruiting hitmen for the organization.

War Runs Rampant Across Mexico

Núñez’s connection to the CJNG was revealed by a journalist by the name of Antonio Nieto, who revealed photos of Núñez originally posted on the alleged CJNG member’s Threads account connected to his Instagram account. In posted photos, La Flaca can be seen with a number of luxury goods, including exotic clothes and cars, firearms, and the alleged criminal in a plate carrier with CJNG’s initials inscribed on the front and back.

Following the attack that took Núñez’s and nine others’ lives, authorities arrested one individual in connection to the attack. Despite the individual’s capture, it remains unknown if the detainee himself is connected to a criminal organization like Núñez. Analysts have speculated others killed in the attack were possibly connected to Núñez himself or the CJNG itself; however, evidence for this theory remains scarce, largely due to the Mexican government’s lack of communication regarding the massacre.

It remains highly likely that the attack was indeed a successful assassination against Núñez due to his role in recruiting hired killers in service to the CJNG, as both the Querétaro municipality and the state, which shares the same name, have become centers of violence amid escalating cartel violence across Mexico. Five cartels are believed to be active in the struggle for Querétaro, including the CJNG, the Knights Templar, the Cartel de los Beltran Leyva, the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel (CSRL), and the Gulf Cartel. Each criminal organization is largely involved in the trafficking and sale of narcotics within the state alongside other violent crimes, including kidnapping for ransom and extortion.

This massacre comes amid increased violence across Mexico as cartels have participated increasingly in armed attacks against their rivals both within and outside their organization. In Sinaloa, the Sinaloa Cartel is currently involved in a civil war brought on by the arrest of notorious cartel figure Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada on July 25, 2024. Loyalists to El Mayo took up arms against the sons of the drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, known as the "Chapitos,” following claims by El Mayo that the Chapitos tricked him into flying into the US, where he was arrested. These loyalists have formed their own faction known as “La Mayiza” and are currently led by one of El Mayo’s sons.

Meanwhile in Villanueva, Zacatecas State, the director of police of the municipality was killed in an armed attack perpetrated by at least four individuals, three of whom were residents of Jalisco. The three’s residency in Jalisco has led some to speculate that the group was aligned with the CJNG amid increasing expansion into the state due to its attractive narcotics smuggling routes into the United States.

As conflict between and within Mexico’s cartels continues to plague the nation, pressure to address the security crisis within the country continues to mount on the nation’s newly elected president, Claudia Sheinbaum.

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