The botched arrest was the result of a poorly planned operation; however, it also raised important questions about López Obrador's security policies. The Culiacán episode replicated the most criticized aspects of previous governments: the "decapitation" of the Whatsapp Mobile Number List drug cartels, killing or arresting their leaders, instead of giving priority to less spectacular but more effective measures in the long term, such as the dismantling of criminal networks at the middle levels, the energetic deployment of financial intelligence against money laundering and, above all, the commitment to a comprehensive reform of the police forces and the justice administration system.
The episode also reflects the challenges that López Obrador faces on the international stage, particularly in relation to his neighbor to the north. After the Whatsapp Mobile Number List cruel murder of nine members of a Mormon family in northern Whatsapp Mobile Number List November 2019, many Mexicans and Americans accused the president's "hugs, not bullets" policy of failing. On November 5, Trump wrote on Twitter: "It is time for Mexico, with the help of the United States, to declare war on the drug cartels and wipe them off the face of the earth."
López Obrador has compelling reasons to take Trump's whims seriously. With his threats to impose tariffs on Mexican exports, Trump got the government to commit to increasing surveillance and enforcement of its immigration regulations not only at the Mexican borders but throughout the national territory. As a result of pressure from Trump, the administration Whatsapp Mobile Number List abandoned the policy of giving Central American migrants work permits and adopted a tougher stance, notably through the mobilization of some 25,000 National Guard members to stem the flow of migrants and restrict their movement within Mexican territory, preventing them, for example, from leaving the southern border state of Chiapas.