Legacy media's Mexico narrative collapses as homicides plunge 30% amid unprecedented U.S. cooperation
Major international news organizations have systematically failed to report one of the most significant security stories in the Americas: Mexico's homicide rate has fallen to its lowest level in a decade, even as U.S.-Mexico cooperation against cartels reaches unprecedented heights.
Travis Bembenek, CEO of Mexico News Daily, argues that legacy media outlets have deliberately omitted context that would undermine their preferred narrative of chaos and violence south of the border.
"Let's be clear about the history here: Mexico has, for decades, genuinely struggled with cartel violence, and I am not arguing otherwise. But what these outlets consistently omit is the context of the last year."
The numbers tell a different story
Mexico recorded 17.5 homicides per 100,000 people in 2025, the lowest per capita rate since 2015 and a 30% decline compared to 2024. The figure stands in stark contrast to 2018, when the country reached 29 killings per 100,000 people, the highest level in two decades.
The decline follows a troubling trajectory that began in 2006, when President Felipe Calderón launched a military-led campaign against drug cartels. Homicides rose sharply throughout his administration and peaked during the López Obrador presidency from 2018 to 2024.
Bembenek notes that cooperation between the U.S. and Mexico against cartels is "at unprecedented levels" according to officials on both sides, a shift he has tracked in real time through coverage of the World Cup and Mexico's business community.
"The result of that cooperation isn't more violence; it's homicides down by almost 50% this year. Apparently good news doesn't sell subscriptions."
Concrete results from bilateral partnership
The cooperation has produced measurable outcomes beyond homicide statistics. Between February 2025 and January 2026, 93 high-ranking cartel figures serving sentences in Mexican jails were transferred to U.S. custody outside formal deportation procedures.
In September 2025, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Mexico to announce a new high-level implementation group on security cooperation, based on principles including respect for sovereignty and shared responsibility.
The partnership achieved its most visible success on February 22, 2026, when Mexican Armed Forces killed Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho, head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. The operation in Tapalpa, Jalisco, resulted from enhanced bilateral intelligence sharing.
U.S. overdose deaths declined by 35% by the end of 2025, while border seizures by U.S. authorities dropped by 50% as Mexican seizures increased significantly, according to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico.
Surveillance concerns amid security gains
While security cooperation has intensified, critics have raised concerns about Mexico's expanding biometric surveillance infrastructure. The country is implementing a comprehensive digital identity system known as CURP Biométrica, which requires fingerprints, iris scans, photographs and digital signatures from all citizens.
Full implementation is targeted for February 2026, with mandatory phone line registration required by July 2026. By that date, all 130 million mobile phone lines in Mexico must be linked to the biometric national ID system.
R3D (Red en Defensa de los Derechos Digitales) and other civil society organizations warn that the centralized biometric database could enable mass surveillance and create data vulnerabilities. The concerns carry particular weight given that approximately 55% of Mexico's workforce operates in the informal economy, potentially subjecting millions to new forms of state monitoring.
Historical patterns of interference
The current security partnership continues a long history of U.S. involvement in Mexican affairs, though the nature of that engagement has evolved considerably. During the Cold War, the CIA actively sought to shape Mexican culture for approximately two decades, funding artist fellowships and literary journals while influencing museum curation to counter leftist ideology.
The cultural operations particularly targeted the muralist movement led by Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros, who promoted revolutionary themes in their artwork.
Recently declassified documents from the JFK assassination files revealed surprising complexity in the intelligence relationship. Operation LIENVOY, one of the most extensive joint CIA-Mexico surveillance programs, was actually initiated by Mexican President Adolfo López Mateos in the late 1950s, not by the CIA as previously assumed.
The revelation suggests that some of the most sweeping surveillance schemes were proposed and operated by the Mexican state itself, complicating narratives of one-sided U.S. interference.
For Bembenek, the omission of current security improvements by major news organizations represents a continuation of distorted coverage that serves commercial rather than journalistic interests. The dramatic reduction in violence, he argues, deserves the same attention previously devoted to Mexico's security challenges.
