Drug Cartels Give Out Food In Mexico Amid The Pandemic

By Rodrigo Cervantes
Published: Monday, May 4, 2020 - 5:05am
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In this screenshot taken from a video circulating in the web and social media, heavily armed men self-identified as part of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación give out bags of food in Zapopan, Mexico, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

MEXICO CITY — Many organizations across the globe are providing vulnerable communities with food to face the crisis brought by the coronavirus pandemic. And in Mexico, this kind of help is also coming from drug cartels. 

A video shows people standing in line in an impoverished neighborhood in the city of Zapopan. 

Men identified as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, heavily armed and with their faces covered, distribute bags with food. 

The scene has repeated in other places, like Guadalajara, where food boxes were delivered on behalf of drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. 

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Mexico still faces a homicide problem, despite the lockdown.

The president asked cartels to cool down and stop violence instead of giving away food.

López Obrador has been criticized for his apparent lack of strategies to stop organized crime and the economic crisis.

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