Mexico weighs legal action after Elon Musk links president to drug cartels

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is contemplating legal action after Elon Musk, the world's richest person, suggested she has ties to drug cartels. This comment came after the capture and death of Nemesio Oseguera, known as “El Mencho,” the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), by Mexican security forces. Musk made his remarks on X, responding to a video from 2025 where Sheinbaum talked about cartel violence. He claimed she was “saying what her cartel bosses tell her to say,” but he did not provide any proof for his statement. During her daily morning press conference, Sheinbaum said, “We are considering whether to take legal action,” explaining that government lawyers are looking into the situation. However, suing Musk for defamation in the U.S. may be challenging for Sheinbaum due to strong free speech protections. To win a defamation lawsuit against Musk, she must show that he knowingly made a false statement about her or acted with reckless disregard for the truth. Tesla, Musk's car company, has not yet responded to requests for comments on Sheinbaum's statements. In the 2025 video, Sheinbaum argued that going back to a “war on drugs” is not a viable option, stating, “Returning to the war on drugs is not an option ... it is outside the framework of the law.” The military crackdown on cartels, initiated by former President Felipe Calderon in 2006, resulted in violent turf wars as gangs fractured, leading to high homicide rates that many experts believe are still influenced by this history.