The tech billionaire has claimed President Claudia Sheinbaum is controlled by “her cartel bosses”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has announced she is weighing a lawsuit against billionaire Elon Musk after he claimed she is controlled by drug cartels.
Musk wrote the comment on Monday after Mexican authorities announced the killing of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. He was responding to a 2025 post in which Sheinbaum rejected an all-out war on drug cartels.
In a video, Sheinbaum said “Returning to the war against the narco is not an option… it is permission to kill without any trial.” Musk responded that she was “saying what her cartel bosses tell her to say,” alleging that “their punishment for disobedience is a little worse than a ‘performance improvement plan’.”
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Sheinbaum said she was “considering whether to take legal action” and that “the lawyers are looking into it.” She said claims that she leads a “narco-government” are “absurd” and “laughable.” The Mexican leader has faced criticism over her national security policies amid a weekend surge in violence.
Cartel violence swept Mexico after drug lord Oseguera Cervantes, also known as El Mencho, was eliminated in a joint US-Mexican military operation in Tapalpa, Jalisco last week. The organization is among Mexico’s most powerful trafficking groups and has been accused of supplying large quantities of fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine to the US. Washington designated it a foreign terrorist organization last year.
The operation triggered unrest across Jalisco and at least eight other states, with videos circulating online showing smoke rising from torched cars and commercial buildings. Cartel members blocked roads, set vehicles ablaze, and looted stores. Clashes between the military and drug cartels in Mexico have raised concerns about the smooth staging of the 2026 FIFA World Cup this summer.
A 2006 military offensive against cartels under then President Felipe Calderon sparked bloody turf wars as gangs splintered, fueling a surge in violence that analysts say still drives Mexico’s high homicide rates.
Sheinbaum said she expects security to gradually return and rejected suggestions that the recent operation signals a return to a more aggressive approach.
