After Anti-Cartel Mayor’s Assassination, Opposition Senator Accuses Sheinbaum of ‘Collusion’ as U.S. Special Forces Reportedly Weigh Mexico Operations

MEXICO CITY / WASHINGTON — Geopolitical and domestic ramifications from the stunning public assassination of anti-cartel mayor Carlos Manzo are mounting, as a searing open letter from opposition Senator Lilly Téllez accused President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government of collusion with criminal networks and cowardice in confronting cartel violence. The senator’s statement landed just hours before an NBC News exclusive report claimed that the Trump administration has begun detailed planning for a mission to deploy U.S. special operations troops and intelligence officers inside Mexico to target drug cartels — an unprecedented step that could jolt North American security relations.

“Under the new mission being planned, U.S. troops in Mexico would mainly use drone strikes to hit drug labs and cartel members and leaders,” NBC reported, citing two current U.S. officials and two former senior officials. “Some of the drones that special forces would use require operators to be on the ground.”

Manzo, the independent mayor of Uruapan in Michoacán, was shot dead on the night of November 1 during Day of the Dead celebrations in the city’s central plaza. Yesterday, All Souls’ Day in Mexico, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, the former ambassador to Mexico, mourned the political assassination and wrote that “the United States stands ready to deepen security cooperation with Mexico to wipe out organized crime on both sides of the border.”

The popular mayor’s killing has become a new cartel-related flashpoint in Sheinbaum’s leadership less than a year into her presidency — and follows the explosive case of Chinese fentanyl kingpin Zhi Dong Zhang (alias “Brother Wang”), who escaped judicial house arrest in Mexico and fled reportedly first to Russia, then to Cuba, where he was finally detained. With U.S. military pressure in Latin America increasing, it appears that Zhang’s extradition to the United States will proceed — yet another indicator of how Mexican judicial and security institutions struggle under cartel pressure, and how President Trump’s war on fentanyl traffickers is ramping up pressure on Western Hemisphere heads of state.

In her open letter addressed to Defense Secretary General Ricardo Trevilla, Senator Téllez accused the army of negligence — or worse — in failing to protect Manzo despite his federally assigned security detail. “The president does not permit war against the cartels but consents to the cartels’ war against civilians,” she wrote, alleging that Sheinbaum has “the blood of innocents on her hands.” The letter, which ends with the rallying cry “We must defend Mexico,” spread rapidly across social-media platforms, igniting outrage among citizens who see Manzo’s death as emblematic of state paralysis in the face of cartel power.

Public anger has translated into the streets. Thousands marched in Uruapan, Morelia, and Mexico City under the slogan “Justicia para Manzo.” In Morelia, protesters clashed with security forces outside the governor’s palace, while online campaigns accused the federal government of shielding cartel interests rather than dismantling them.

President Sheinbaum responded on national television, calling the murder a “vile attack on democracy” and promising “zero impunity.” Her security cabinet said two suspects have been detained and one killed, and that an expanded National Guard operation has been deployed across Michoacán. Yet critics argue that these gestures fail to confront the deeper structural problem — the fusion of politics, policing, and organized crime that has hollowed out local governance across much of western Mexico.

According to officials cited by NBC News, the Trump administration’s emerging plan would deploy elements of Joint Special Operations Command alongside Central Intelligence Agency officers to conduct precision operations against cartel targets inside Mexico. The mission would operate under Title 50 authority, placing it within the covert-action remit of the U.S. intelligence community — effectively allowing the Pentagon to act under CIA operational control.

Under the framework described by two current and two former U.S. officials, the mission envisions a combination of drone strikes on drug labs and logistics sites, targeted operations against cartel leadership figures, and the potential deployment of small on-ground teams to operate surveillance or guide strike platforms in hard-to-reach areas. Officials told NBC News that early-stage training and interagency coordination are already under way, but no deployment has yet been authorized.

If approved, the mission would mark the first time in modern history that U.S. special forces are formally empowered to conduct kinetic operations inside Mexican territory. While U.S. military and intelligence personnel have long assisted Mexico through joint task forces and advisory missions, direct action has remained a political red line — one Mexican leaders have repeatedly invoked as a matter of national sovereignty.

A senior U.S. administration official told NBC News, “The Trump administration is committed to utilizing an all-of-government approach to address the threats cartels pose to American citizens.” The CIA declined to comment, while the Pentagon referred inquiries to the White House.

The legal and diplomatic developments are surprising, but not unexpected, for security analysts. By designating six Mexican cartels — along with MS-13 and Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua — as foreign terrorist organizations earlier this year, Washington effectively opened the door for U.S. intelligence and military agencies to pursue these groups with expanded espionage and counter-terrorism powers. This move gives the White House greater latitude to justify overseas operations, including those conducted without host-nation consent, on national-security grounds.