The spectacular fall from grace of Mexico’s previous armed forces supremo has raised awkward questions about the president’s reliance on the military to fight drug gangs and manage an increasing portfolio of vital civilian infrastructure. Thursday’s arrest of former Defense Minister Salvador Cienfuegos in the United States at the Los Angeles airport on drug trafficking charges sent shockwaves through the political establishment and embarrassed a once highly trusted institution. It threatens to sour government relations with the military, which since President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador assumed power in December 2018 has been tasked not just with reducing violence, but also managing ports and even building an airport.
