Category: GlobalX

Table of Contents

1. A City Living in Fear
2. The Business That Fuels the Violence

A City Living in Fear

The capture and death of Mexico’s most wanted drug lord, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho, was hailed as a major victory by the government of Mexico. President Claudia Sheinbaum praised special forces for bringing him down. But in the cartel stronghold of Culiacán, the aftermath has brought not peace, but more bloodshed.

Here, fear has become routine.

Paramedic Héctor Torres has witnessed the transformation firsthand. Once, he said, the city pulsed with nightlife. Now, silence descends before dark. His ambulance is frequently called to scenes where survival is rare bodies sprawled on sidewalks, inside garages, or beside bicycles.

The violence stems from fractures within the Sinaloa Cartel, once unified under powerful leaders like Ismael Zambada. His imprisonment in the United States left a vacuum that rival factions are now fighting to fill.

The consequences are devastating. Paramedics wear heavy body armor, knowing attackers could still be nearby. Soldiers man checkpoints across the city. Even hospitals and funerals are no longer safe.

Children have become victims. One teenage boy was shot dead while riding his bicycle, his body left in the street as police marked shell casings around him.

For families, the suffering does not end with death. Many simply disappear.

Reynalda Pulido has spent years searching for her missing son, digging through fields with other mothers. They probe the earth for hidden graves, driven by hope and grief. “A mother will always look,” she said. “No matter how far.

The Business That Fuels the Violence

At the center of this war is fentanyl a synthetic opioid that has become one of the world’s deadliest drugs.

In a hidden basement, a cartel producer known as Román packed kilogram bricks of white powder destined for American cities. Each package, stamped and sealed, could fetch nearly $30,000 in New York City.

The trade has become more efficient and more profitable. Instead of pills, traffickers now ship powder, easier to conceal and transport.

Despite pressure from both governments, production continues uninterrupted.

Even Donald Trump, who labeled cartels terrorist organizations, has failed to stem the flow. Traffickers insist demand guarantees supply.

“As long as people want it,” Román said, “it will continue.”

Meanwhile, ordinary citizens pay the price.

On one recent evening, Héctor and his partner responded to another shooting. Two men lay bleeding in the street innocent bystanders caught in crossfire. Against the odds, both survived.

It was the first time in months that Héctor had transported victims who were still alive.

He removed his gloves, soaked in blood, and lit a cigarette.

Around him, soldiers stood guard. Above, a helicopter circled.

And in Culiacán, the war went on.

Edited By : Aman Yadav

Table of Contents

1. A Fragile Pause Amid Ruin
2. Borders, Belief and the Politics of Return
3. Washington’s Debate and the Cost of Silence

A Fragile Pause Amid Ruin

For Mosab Abu Toha, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Palestinian poet who left Gaza in 2023 after being detained and beaten by Israeli forces, the word “ceasefire” rings hollow.

In interviews this week, Abu Toha described conditions in Gaza as catastrophic despite a U.S.-brokered truce announced in October. Citing figures from Gaza health officials and humanitarian groups, he said hundreds of Palestinians have been killed since the agreement took effect. “It’s still a genocide,” he said. “Ongoing.”

A recent study published in The Lancet, the British medical journal, estimated that more than 75,000 Palestinians were killed violently in the first 16 months of Israel’s military campaign a number significantly higher than earlier figures released by Gaza’s Health Ministry. Researchers found that women, children and the elderly accounted for more than half of the deaths.

Israel disputes accusations of genocide and says it targets Hamas militants while seeking to minimize civilian casualties. The war began after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which killed about 1,200 people and resulted in the capture of more than 200 hostages, according to Israeli authorities.

But for residents of Gaza, Abu Toha said, daily life remains defined by displacement and scarcity. He described family members living in tents pitched beside the rubble of their homes. Access to clean water is limited, he said, and food deliveries, though resumed in part, fall far short of what is needed after months of hunger.

Medical evacuations remain a flashpoint. Palestinian health officials have said that roughly 20,000 patients require urgent treatment outside Gaza, including thousands of cancer patients and children in need of specialized care. Aid organizations have reported that many have died while waiting for permission to cross out of the enclave. Israel has said that security considerations govern exit approvals.

The Rafah crossing, once Gaza’s primary gateway to Egypt, has become heavily militarized. Abu Toha called it “a checkpoint,” saying that families seeking passage often face prolonged delays and uncertainty.

Borders, Belief and the Politics of Return

The war has unfolded alongside intensifying political rhetoric in Washington and Jerusalem. Recently, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, suggested in a televised interview that biblical claims underpin Jewish ties to the land. The remarks drew condemnation from Arab and Muslim leaders and renewed debate over the role of religious language in modern diplomacy.

Abu Toha responded by invoking his own family history. His grandparents, he said, were expelled from Jaffa in 1948. “They didn’t know about the Bible,” he said. “They were living there.”

He questioned framing the conflict solely through ancient scripture. “Is there something in the Bible about mercy and justice?” he asked, reflecting on the interview. For Palestinians, he said, the land is not an abstraction but the site of lived memory and identity.

The idea of transforming Gaza into a modern resort destination a concept floated by former President Donald Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner in past remarks about redevelopment struck him as surreal. Reconstruction, he said, cannot precede accountability. He pointed to longstanding United Nations resolutions calling for an end to occupation and adherence to international law.

Israel’s government has rejected many U.N. resolutions as biased and maintains that its military operations are acts of self-defense.

Washington’s Debate and the Cost of Silence

In the United States, the war has reverberated politically. An internal Democratic National Committee review of the 2024 election — portions of which were reported but not publicly released reportedly found that voter dissatisfaction with the Biden administration’s Gaza policy contributed to Vice President Kamala Harris’s defeat.

Abu Toha, now living in the United States, said he believed American leaders underestimated the political and moral weight of the conflict. Images from Gaza circulated widely on social media, he noted, shaping public opinion beyond traditional party lines.

For him, the consequences are measured less in electoral outcomes than in lives lost. Thousands remain buried beneath collapsed buildings, according to Palestinian officials. Recovery efforts are slow, hampered by damage and limited equipment.

“The hugest loss,” he said, “has been to us as Palestinians.”

As diplomats debate next steps and political leaders trade accusations, residents of Gaza continue to navigate a landscape of ruins — uncertain whether the current lull marks the beginning of peace or merely an intermission in a war that, for many, has not truly paused.

EDITED BY – Swasti Jain
{ STUDENT OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES AND INTERN AT HOSTELBEE}

FOLLOW HER:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/swasti-jain-b194412b6