Governing Amid Bullets – A Mexican Mayor’s War Against the Cartels
In Uruapan, the heart of Mexico’s multibillion-dollar avocado industry, Mayor Carlos Manzo (40) is waging a personal war against the drug cartels that dominate Michoacán, the state with the highest number of assassinated mayors in the country. Since taking office in September 2024, he has openly challenged criminal groups that extort avocado producers and terrorize civilians — an act of defiance that has made him one of the most exposed local leaders in Mexico.
Uruapan sits less than 60 miles from the border with Jalisco, in a corridor fought over by cartels seeking control of Pacific ports used to traffic precursor chemicals from China, which feed the fentanyl trade reaching the United States. Amid Donald Trump’s renewed calls for military action against Mexican cartels and the cautious response of President Claudia Sheinbaum, Manzo’s fight reflects both the courage and the limits of local resistance in Mexico’s broader security crisis.
Despite constant death threats, he personally joins daily patrols with police and soldiers through Uruapan’s most violent neighborhoods. Recently, he rushed to the scene of a gunfight near the Purépecha community of Tiamba, where deserted avocado orchards have become a frontline of cartel control.
The pitch is accompanied by photographs from a recent trip to Michoacán, including images of a patrol with Mayor Manzo and self-defense (autodefensa) groups around Uruapan. The visuals and story together reveal the region’s volatility and the fragility of governance amid cartel violence.
This piece offers a ground-level view of what it means to govern under siege in Mexico, at a moment when U.S.–Mexico relations over drugs, security, and sovereignty are once again at the center of American political debate.
Mayor Carlos Manzo patrols the outskirts of Uruapan with a unit of police and soldiers after pursuing cartel members following an exchange of gunfire.
Avocados on a barricade at a checkpoint in Nurio, an Indigenous autodefensa (self-defense) community outside Uruapan, in Michoacán.
Mayor Carlos Manzo speaks to the press during the inauguration of a new stretch of road in Uruapan.
Mayor Carlos Manzo surveys the city of Uruapan after pursuing cartel members who fled into a nearby park following a gunfight with police and soldiers inside a residential neighborhood.
Poor neighborhood in Uruapan with a strong presence of cartel members.
Mexican police and soldiers patrol a dangerous neighborhood in Uruapan after pursuing suspected cartel members who fled into a nearby park following a gunfight.
Mayor Carlos Manzo during a pursuit in Uruapan, after chasing suspected cartel members who fled into a nearby park following a gunfight in a residential neighborhood.
A member of the self-defense (autodefensa) community of San Ángel mans a checkpoint on the road leading into the town, located on the outskirts of Uruapan. Several nearby communities have declared autonomy from the Mexican state and armed themselves in local militias to protect their territory.
A checkpoint at the entrance to the Indigenous self-defense (autodefensa) community of Nurío, on the outskirts of Uruapan. Several nearby communities have declared autonomy from the Mexican state and organized local militias to defend their territory from criminal groups.
A checkpoint at the entrance to the Indigenous self-defense (autodefensa) community of Nurío, on the outskirts of Uruapan.
A view of the main square in the Indigenous self-defense (autodefensa) community of Nurio, on the outskirts of Uruapan.
Indigenous woman inside the town hall of the self-defense (autodefensa) Indigenous community of Nurio, on the outskirts of Uruapan.
A member of the Indigenous self-defense (autodefensa) community of Nurío, on the outskirts of Uruapan, keeps watch at the community’s entrance.