The “legacy media”, weary from conjuring up constitutional crises out of the legitimate wielding of presidential power and downplaying the horrific murder of the Bibas Family, have so far ignored an explosive story with enormous policy implications. The head of the Sinaloa Cartel, currently in U.S. custody, is pressuring the Mexican government into demanding his repatriation, which the President of Mexico is currently considering.
Here’s how the matter was reported on Univision’s late-night newscast- buried in a brief:
NOTICIERO UNIVISION EDICIÓN NOCTURNA
2/21/25
11:56 PM
ANDREA LINARES: The President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, confirmed that (their) consulate in New York received a letter from drug trafficker Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, in which the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel asks the Mexican government to demand his repatriation.
Likewise, the story was buried in a brief on Telemundo:
NOTICIAS TELEMUNDO
2/21/25
6:52 PM
JULIO VAQUEIRO: “El Mayo” Zambada wants to be returned to Mexico. The founder of the Sinaloa Cartel demands to be repatriated. He claims that his detention was “irregular”, and that The United States lacks legitimacy to impose the death penalty upon him. President Claudia Sheinbaum confirms that his case will be reviewed.
These briefs were infinitely more than was reported on ABC, CBS, or NBC: a massive story with massive implications if President Sheinbaum caves to Sinaloa Cartel boss Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada’s demands for repatriation. During her Friday morning press conference, she expressed a willingness to consider the request- on the basis of “procedure”:
The biggest story you haven’t heard on “legacy media”: the Sinaloa Cartel boss pressuring the president of Mexico to demand his repatriation from the U.S, lest he “collapse” the bilateral relationship. President Sheinbaum has agreed to “review” the matter. pic.twitter.com/aza4RIoL4x
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) February 24, 2025
Per Mexico’s Reforma, Zambada says that:
“(The Mexican government) should intervene so that the current situation does not result in a collapse of the bilateral relationship between both countries…I demand and demand that the Mexican State comply with its unavoidable obligation to intervene immediately, forcefully and without margin of discretion to formally demand from the United States of America absolute, full, binding and irrevocable guarantees and assurances that the death penalty will not be imposed or carried out on me…”
The letter comes on the heels of the State Department’s official designation of various cartels, Sinaloa among them, as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. Per Spain’s El País:
The Mayo letter puts its finger on the sore spot of Mexico's sovereignty, the main card that Sheinbaum has played in response to the pressures of the Trump Administration. The White House this week formally designated six Mexican cartels as terrorist groups, among them the Sinaloa Cartel, which has triggered widespread concerns in Mexico over the possibility of Washington launching a military intervention on Mexican soil under the pretext of the fight against terrorism. Sheinbaum stressed that sovereignty “is not negotiable” and complained to Trump that her administration was not consulted prior to the designations. She also announced an initiative to impose “the most severe penalty possible” on foreign agents who violate Mexican sovereignty.
President Sheinbaum may announce her decision as early as Tuesday- a decision which will have ramifications on the implementation of policies that the American people voted for, and which may prove President Trump to be right with regard to the level of control that the cartels exert over the Mexican government.
We’ll see whether “legacy media” remain asleep at the switch.
