24.02.2026 18:55
As the streets of Mexico are ablaze with cartel wars, a diplomatic bomb has come from El Salvador's iron-fisted leader Nayib Bukele. Bukele directly attributed the chaos in Mexico to the government. Defining a state's impotence in the face of crime not as 'inadequacy' but as 'partnership,' Bukele used very strong expressions that will shake the balances of regional politics: "If a state cannot defeat crime, it is because it is an accomplice to crime."
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele did not remain silent about the cartel chaos occurring in the neighboring geography. Criticizing the transformation of the country into a battlefield following the neutralization of Mexico's most notorious drug lord El Mencho, Bukele issued a "verdict" that will be widely discussed regarding state authority.
THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT IS ON THE TARGET BOARD
Having subdued the world's most dangerous gangs like MS-13 and Barrio 18 with massive prisons in his own country and radically reducing crime rates, Bukele directly placed the Mexican government on the target board in a statement made via social media. Referring to images of the Mexican army and police struggling in the streets against retaliatory attacks from cartel members, Bukele argued that the issue is not a technical inadequacy but a matter of intent.
"WHERE THERE IS AUTHORITY, CRIME CANNOT THRIVE"
In his statement emphasizing the absolute power of the state, Bukele used the following strong expressions:
"There is no state that cannot deal with criminals. If a state cannot overcome crime, there is only one reason for that: It is complicit in that crime. No illegal structure can withstand the army, intelligence, and police power of the state; unless that structure is being fed directly from within the state."
DIPLOMATIC CRISIS IS ON THE HORIZON
Bukele's remarks have brought back to the world agenda the long-standing claims that drug cartels in Mexico have infiltrated local governments up to the federal army. Although there has not yet been an official response from the Mexican side, Bukele's implication of "criminal complicity" seems likely to strain diplomatic relations between the two countries.