Mexico blames US amid surge in cartel violence in Sinaloa

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00:00Heavily armed soldiers patrolled the deserted streets of Sinaloa's regional capital, while

00:07helicopters circled loudly overhead amid a fresh surge in cartel violence.

00:14Around 70 people have been killed since the start of the month in the northwestern Mexican

00:18state where rival gangs have engaged in a brutal and deadly power struggle.

00:25In recent days, the streets of the capital, Culiacan, have been stooned with dead bodies,

00:30pushing the federal government to deploy 600 troops to reinforce security in the area.

00:36The violence follows the arrest of Sinaloa Cartel co-founder Ismael Zambada, along with

00:41the son of former Kingpin Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, on US soil in late July.

00:47The arrest sparked rumours that Guzman had kidnapped Zambada to deliver him to US authorities,

00:53a claim that was immediately rejected by the Guzman family lawyer.

00:57Yet Mexico's president also blamed the violence on the arrest, and partly on the United States,

01:03which he accused of making a secret deal with cartel members to capture Zambada.

01:08They reached an agreement.

01:14We still don't know what it was about or its conditions.

01:22That it caused the confrontation in Sinaloa to break out.

01:30The US ambassador rejected the allegations, instead pointing the finger to Mexico's history

01:36of insecurity and violence.

01:39President López Obrador, who's due to step down at the end of the month, has been accused

01:43of being soft on organised crime during his six-year tenure.

01:52For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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