FAILED STATE: El Chapo’s Son Flees Arrest After a Shootout with Mexican Security Forces

On October 17, 2019, Mexican security forces were caught up in a deadly firefight in Culiacan, Mexico with gunmen of the Sinaloa cartel.

This was part of a mission to apprehend the son of the infamous Sinaloa cartel drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán.

A federal judge in Washington D.C. issued an arrest warrant for Ovidio Guzmán López, who was federally charged with drug trafficking in 2017.

This exchange turned deadly, with 8 people being killed and 21 wounded. On top of that, Guzmán López was able to flee the scene.

José Luis González Meza, the legal counsel for El Chapo’s family, claimed that “Ovidio is alive and free” but he provided no more details about what transpired during this incident.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) defended his security forces’ decision to let Guzmán López free.

“The capture of one criminal cannot be worth more than the lives of people,” the Mexican president proclaimed, describing the operation’s response “very violent” and alluded to the risk that this operation posed to bystanders. “This decision was made to protect citizens. … You cannot fight fire with fire,” AMLO continued. “We do not want deaths. We do not want war.”

This is another lurid demonstration that Mexico has reached failed state status.

For that reason, immigration reform and border security remain some of the most important issues among GOP voters.

Having a porous border with a failed state like Mexico is not in America’s best interest.