Monday, February 23, 2026

Want to catch a cartel boss? Just follow his lover

Mexico's biggest drug kingpin is dead.
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Today's Agenda

The Fall of El Mencho

"How do you catch one of Mexico's most notorious drug lords?" is a question that many foreign policy experts, diplomats and heads of state have asked and failed to answer. On Sunday, President Claudia Sheinbaum's government unlocked the secret:

May it forever be known that Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes — the brutal leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel known as "El Mencho" — was brought down by one of his own romantic partners. Maybe lust really is man's greatest weakness.

Juan Pablo Spinetto says the historic operation, which resulted in nearly three dozen criminal casualties, "marks a watershed in the fight against the cartels." Still, it wasn't without its risks. JP says the killing unleashed a wave of violence across the country: "Murderstorched cars and highway blockades. Bank branches set ablaze on otherwise empty streets. Tourists stranded in resorts in Puerto Vallarta. Classes suspended in at least 13 states."

It's a familiar story for those who have witnessed other drug kingpins fall. "Every time a major cartel loses its boss, the spasm of revenge against the government is followed by bloody internal struggles as major players and their factions move to fill the vacuum," JP writes.

But El Mencho was an especially powerful one, notes JP: "He led a rapidly expanding criminal multinational [organization], committed notorious acts of brutality and commanded a private army able to resist multiple attempts to capture him (this video shows the insane level of paramilitary protection he enjoyed)."

Now that he's out of the picture, JP says "the next rising capo may well be recalculating his actuarial odds in this line of business." He says it's a win for Sheinbaum, who's had US President Donald Trump breathing down her neck for the better half of a year. "Sunday's events show that, even with the government's many shortcomings, it has the teeth to strike back."

American Whiplash

You know who doesn't have teeth? USA hockey hero Jack Hughes. For a brief moment on Sunday, this photo made me forget about all the horrible things happening in this country:

Photographer: Elsa/Getty Images Europe

But then I saw this video of FBI Director Kash Patel chugging a beer in Team USA's locker room, and all my American pride came crashing down.

In the midst of the fist pumps and partying, Patel put Trump on speaker phone. The president invited the whole team to the White House for the State of the Union address on Tuesday. "I must tell you, we're gonna HAVE to bring the women's team, you do know that," Trump said as the room erupted with laughter.

The athletes who accept Trump's invitation will likely become part of the backdrop for a speech that Abby McCloskey predicts will offer "no newfound humility or talk of mending our fractured nation." Instead, she says to expect the usual script: "He'll talk about how Biden dug us into an economic hole and Trump has reached down with his bare hands to pull us out of it. How the market is hot, unemployment is low and inflation is improving. The border has never been more secure. Crime is down. Tariffs have reshaped global trade."

Eh, maybe he'll skip that last one, given the embarrassment he suffered on Friday. "Not since the Supreme Court struck down the first New Deal in 1935 has the court reversed a policy of comparable importance to a sitting president," Noah Feldman said of the justices' 6-3 ruling striking down Trump's tariffs as illegal. With the decision, Mary Ellen Klas says "the high court not only reaffirmed the separation of powers but invited Congress to reassert itself as the branch with the power of the purse."

Until then, the White House is threatening to reinstate the tariffs under different statutes. Europeans, Lionel Laurent argues, should use the moment to push back against what he calls "shameless bullying" by the US in the $1 trillion transatlantic trade relationship.

It amounts to an outlook that's "no clearer than before," the Bloomberg editorial board writes. "Firms that have paid the now-illegal tariffs will seek redress. Whether refunds will be granted and how they'd be administered has been sent back to lower courts — with some $170 billion of government revenue at stake."

Between the hockey and the tariffs, there's no shortage of whiplash in this country.

Bonus Team USA Reading: For older Olympians, the challenge is more than physical. — Adam Minter

Telltale Company Charts

"America is now living in what might be called the Age of the Corporation," writes Kathryn Anne Edwards. Profits are going buck wild, while everyday Americans are receiving increasingly smaller slices of the economic pie. "These two developments — workers get less money, corporations get more — are absolutely related," she notes. "Meanwhile, CEO compensation has skyrocketed over the past six decades, rising from 21 times that of the average worker to 281 times."

The contrast between the haves and have nots is particularly stark on Wall Street. "Pay for top bosses at the biggest US banks has reached new records in the past couple of years, surpassing even what chief executive officers got in the pre-crisis peak of 2007," writes Paul J. Davies. At the same time, the salary and benefits of their underlings are lagging. Will automation change any of that? Possibly, but even with widespread AI adaptation, Paul says "human judgment will still be needed at many stages," including the C-Suite.

Further Reading

A US war with Iran appears imminent. But what's the goal here, really? — Marc Champion

The cruise line that splurged on Picassos and Katy Perry has cost control issues?? Shocker! — Matthew Brooker

Tech, infrastructure and distrust of the US are creating new ways of looking at the world. — Hal Brands

Trump voters in Social Circle, Georgia, don't want an ICE prison camp. — Mary Ellen Klas

Should Kamala Harris run for president again? These women say no. — Nia-Malika Henderson

The US trade agreement gives Modi the perfect cover to overhaul India's farming sector. — Mihir Sharma

Helen Zille's ascent is emblematic of South Africa's growing political maturity. — Justice Malala

OpenClaw might become a security nightmare for Sam Altman. — Parmy Olson

ICYMI

New York is digging itself out.

Is the AI economy one big mirage?

Binance has an Iran problem.

Kickers

The United Steaks of America.

An underwear hygiene investigation. (h/t Mark Gilbert)

The tragedy of Punch the monkey.

Notes: Please send $120 steak and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net.

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