Public outrage against the Mexican government continues after gas shortages caused the closure of many gas stations and resulted in citizens waiting in long lines for fuel.
The protests ramped up further after the Mexican government announced plans to raise the price of gasoline over the next year by at least 14 percent.
Demonstrations have already taken place throughout several parts of the country over the rise in fuel prices.
Additionally, matters have now worsened for the government and Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto, in the wake of recent reports that a drugs cartel has threatened to blow up fuel stations who refuse to lower prices.
Mexican law enforcement officials in Jalisco have now ramped up security amid a recent warning made by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), threatening to launch attacks on gas stations, which the group accused of price gouging the struggling citizens of the state.
As a result, the government deployed additional military and federal police units throughout the state capital of Guadalajara and in the cities of Zapopan and Colotlán.
Jalisco State Attorney General Jesus Eduardo Almaguer stressed in an announcement the need to “stop all those who violate the law.”
The statement comes after a broadcasted a message delivered via the “WhatsApp” messaging service had threatened to burn any gas stations that fails to regulate the sale of fuel.
“The CJNG, in support of the working class, undertakes the mission to burn all gas stations on December 30 of this year, at 10 pm, who have not normalized the sale of fuel at a fair price,” the message read.
The group added: “These establishments will burn with everything inside including the staff, who speculate to make millionaires profits before the interests of a population struggling to make minimum wage since we have realized the fuel shortage is caused by dealers do not want to sell fuel until the price of gas increases.”
At the end of the announcement, the CJNG said: “All our people are ready to start this assignment.”
The Attorney General said through its Twitter account that it would continue to “investigate the origin of the message spreading through social networks.”
“Any person who attempts to violate the peace, security, and welfare of citizens will be detained according to the law,” Almaguer said.
In May 2015, the CJNG launched a devastating attack, setting fire to gas stations, burning buildings and even shooting down an army helicopter in Guadalajara following a military operation aimed at capturing the cartel's top boss Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, better known as “El Mencho.”
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