Sinaloa cartel

Donald Trump has declared war on the cartels. The southern border is now patrolled by the military, the wall is rapidly expanding and US intelligence is helping to target crime bosses on Mexican soil. Illegal crossings and drug seizures at key points have dropped by more than 70 percent in the last year.But, contrary to appearances, the cartels have not surrendered – instead, they have pivoted, applying Sun Tzu’s principle: attack your enemy's weaknesses, not his strengths.Led by the blood-soaked and ultra violent Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation Cartel they are exploiting the soft 5,525-mile long northern border with Canada and its sparse surveillance, dense forests, inadequately staffed crossings and neglected checkpoints.

Consider it the first tangible example of Donald Trump’s Western Hemisphere policy made real. The president’s day-one Executive Order calling for the “total elimination” of multiple cartels is now getting its teeth in the form of a list drawn up by the Department of State designating eight different groups based across Latin America as foreign terrorist organizations, according to the New York Times.

The international media has a new Mexican girlboss to fawn over. Claudia Sheinbaum is Mexico’s new presidenta, leading a landslide for AMLO’s populist leftist Morena Party now empowered to alter Mexico’s Constitution according to his wishes. Should Donald Trump return to the White House, I can only imagine the “yas kween” memes that will emerge from their confrontations over the remain in Mexico policy. And did you know she’s a socialist and a climate scientist, too? Coming soon to a TIMEime magazine cover, a Vogue fashion profile and a children’s board book near you. Of course, those articles to come will spend more time on the glass ceiling than on all those pesky murders and missing people.