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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Thomas Graham in Tijuana

Mexico pledges safety for World Cup after violence erupts from cartel boss’s killing

a woman speaks into a microphone
Claudia Sheinbaum holds her daily press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City on 24 February 2026. Photograph: José Méndez/EPA

Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has said that there is “no risk” for visitors coming to Fifa World Cup games scheduled to be held in the country, after the death of a top cartel boss triggered a wave of retaliatory violence from gunmen who blocked roads and attacked security forces across the country.

The Mexican military attempted to detain “El Mencho”, the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, in a dawn raid on Sunday, leading to a firefight in which he was fatally wounded, before dying while being airlifted to hospital.

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