The price of arresting the son of 'El Chapo': 29 dead and 35 injured

• Latin America The army captures Ovidio Guzmán, son of 'Chapo', in northern Mexico

• Controversial López Obrador directly ordered the release of the son of 'El Chapo' Guzmán

The arrest of Ovidio Guzmán, son of El Chapo, has caused enormous bloodshed:

, 19 soldiers and 10 hitmen, and 35 wounded.

The Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), has lamented this Friday, "the loss of life", but has defended that the Armed Forces acted responsibly "so that there were no innocent victims".

The wave of attacks unleashed by the hitmen of the

to try to prevent the capture of one of its most prominent leaders has once again demonstrated how, in some parts of Mexico, the power of criminal groups exceeds the capacity of the State to protect the civilian population.

Little by little, the city of Culiacán is recovering normality, after a day in which its 800,000 inhabitants were again

, becoming, once again, hostages of an undeclared war that alters their lives with too often.

It happened in 2019, in the well-known Culiacanazo, when the army managed to briefly detain Ovidio Guzmán, but the Government decided to release him under violent pressure from the Sinaloa cartel.

On that occasion,

.

Despite the international embarrassment generated by the news, the Mexican president used that decision as an example of his government's security strategy, based on the principle of "hugs, not bullets."

Questioned by the change in criteria, the Mexican president has insisted that in 2019, "there was a situation completely different from this one."

AMLO has also rejected that the arrest of Ovidio Guzmán responds to any kind of gesture towards the US, whose president,

, will visit Mexico next week to participate, together with the Canadian, Justin Trudeau, in the 'Summits of the Americas'.

"There are many interpretations, we respect them, but we do not share them," the Mexican leader assured during his daily press conference, popularly known as

.

Some media, such as

, headlined their covers this Friday with a large photograph of Ovidio Guzmán detained, accompanying it with the phrase: "

."

Men ride a motorcycle in front of a burning truck in the streets of Culiacán.MARTÍN URISTAAP

The son of

was one of the most wanted criminals by the DEA, which came to offer up to five million dollars in exchange for clues that would allow his capture.

However, a federal judge yesterday suspended the process of extradition to the US of Ovidio Guzmán, who must face his legal process in Mexico.

After being arrested on Thursday morning in the municipality of Jesús María, 80 kilometers from Culiacán, the young boss of the Sinaloa cartel

.

His hitmen tried to free him until the last moment, even shooting at the aircraft while he was taking off, but this time his efforts have not borne fruit.

second arrest

Guzmán, nicknamed "El Ratón" for his ability to evade authorities, has already spent his first two nights in the Altiplano prison, the same one from which his father,

, escaped in 2015, to through a 1.5 kilometer tunnel that led to his cell.

The first released images of the detainee show Ovidio Guzmán

, with short hair and a several-day beard.

If there are no surprises, the young boss of the Sinaloa cartel will spend the next few months in this

while in Culiacán, the authorities take stock of the damage and the population tries to recover normality.

Members of the National Guard, in the facilities where Ovidio Guzmán is presumed to have been transferred. SASHENKA GUTIÉRREZEFE

As confirmed by the Secretary of National Defense,

, during the operation 21 hitmen were arrested and "four Barrett 50 caliber rifles, six machine guns, 26 long weapons, two short weapons, chargers, cartridges, various tactical equipment and 40 trucks, 26 of them armored".

Despite the fact that school classes and normal activity in shops and businesses have resumed,

by the barricades of the battle waged to capture Ovidio Guzmán.

More than 3,500 soldiers have been deployed in the capital of Sinaloa after this new episode of violence that has once again demonstrated to the world the weaknesses of the State, in the face of an organized crime that continues to act with impunity and violence.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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