MEXICO CITY, Feb 24 (Reuters) – Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Tuesday there are “all the guarantees” for the 2026 FIFA World Cup to be held in the country, after the capture and death of Mexico’s most-wanted cartel leader triggered roadblocks, arson and security clashes, notably in Jalisco state.
Asked if the top international soccer tournament, which is expected to draw crowds of fans from around the world to matches in Mexico City, Monterrey and Jalisco’s capital Guadalajara, would pose a risk to visitors, Sheinbaum said there was “no risk.”
A spokesperson for FIFA told Reuters that the organization was closely monitoring the situation and was in close contact with the authorities.
“We will continue to follow the actions and directions from the different government agencies, aimed at maintaining public safety and restoring normalcy, and we reiterate our close collaboration with federal, state, and local authorities,” they said.
Local Mexican leagues postponed some matches that had been scheduled for Sunday, the day cartel members coordinated a series of violent attacks across the country in the aftermath of an operation to capture cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera, known as “El Mencho,” which resulted in his death.
Sheinbaum told a morning press conference on Tuesday that the situation was continuing to normalize, noting that several new roadblocks appeared overnight but said security forces were working to safeguard public security.
Sheinbaum has largely followed the political map of her predecessor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who prioritized alleviating poverty and other root causes of violence, adopting a slogan of “hugs not bullets.”
Asked whether the killing of Oseguera marked a break from that policy, Sheinbaum said this would never be the case.
“The detention of a suspected criminal with an arrest warrant can generate this type of circumstance, but we are looking for peace, not war,” she said.
The arrests of other top cartel figures in Sinaloa state have in recent years also triggered cartel retaliation, including shootouts and vehicles set on fire.
Mexico is set to host 13 of 104 World Cup matches. Four of these are set to be held in Guadalajara. It will also host some preliminary warm-up matches before the tournament opens on June 11.
(Reporting by Sarah Morland and Raul Cortes in Mexico City and Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Daina Beth Solomon and Mark Porter)
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