Sheinbaum said Musk’s claims, presented without evidence on his social media platform X, are absurd.
Mexico’s president says road blockades have been lifted after drug lord’s death
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the road blockade had been lifted following the death of drug lord El Mencho.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo says her government is considering legal action after billionaire Elon Musk said drug cartels control the government.
At a Feb. 24 press conference, Sheinbaum said Musk’s claims, presented without evidence on his social media platform X, are ridiculous. Sheinbaum’s comments came days after Mexican authorities announced that the military killed wanted drug lord Nemesio Ruben Oseguerra Cervantes, also known as El Mencho, during a military operation in Mexico’s Jalisco state on February 22.
Sheinbaum, a member of the leftist party MORENA, told reporters, “We are considering whether to take legal action.” “Lawyers are looking into it. But the truth is, it’s people’s opinions that are important to me.”
Musk, a right-wing ally of President Donald Trump, said from his podium on February 23 that Sheinbaum was “just saying what the cartel bosses told him to do.” Musk, who has a net worth of more than $840 billion, was responding to a 2025 video in which Sheinbaum said a return to the drug war was not an option.
“Let’s just say their punishment for insubordination is a little worse than a ‘performance improvement plan’…” his X post read.
Spokespeople for Musk’s companies, including Tesla and SpaceX, did not respond to requests for comment.
Sheinbaum said claims about a government controlled by “narcogovierno,” or drug traffickers, are “ridiculous.”
“I don’t understand how they make something like this up,” she said. “I laugh when I read the commentators’ comments.”
Mexican officials said the military operation to capture Oseguerra Cervantes, leader of the Jalisco New Generation cartel, was carried out with support from U.S. military intelligence. Mexican authorities are trying to regain control in parts of the country after armed groups in several states began engaging in public violence, including gun battles and roadblocks.
