At her Tuesday morning press conference, President Claudia Sheinbaum responded to questions about the upcoming FIFA World Cup and the dissemination on Sunday of videos and images created with artificial intelligence that purported to depict scenes of violence that didn’t actually exist.

The creation of the phony material came amid a violent cartel response to the death of Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) leader Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, who died after he was shot by military personnel in an operation carried out in Tapalpa, Jalisco, on Sunday morning.

‘No risk’ to World Cup visitors, says Sheinbaum 

In light of the violent response to the killing of “El Mencho,” a reporter asked the president whether there are security guarantees that will allow FIFA World Cup matches to be played in the state capital, Guadalajara, later this year.

“All of them. All guarantees, all guarantees,” Sheinbaum said without offering further detail.

Asked whether there was any risk for World Cup tourists, she responded: “No risk, none.”

⚽ #Sheinbaum asegura que, pese a la violencia del crimen organizado, hay todas las garantías para el #Mundial. “No hay ningún riesgo” ✅ #SeguridadMX #Política #Fútbol pic.twitter.com/wZsFL1XgoC

— Emeequis (@emeequis) February 24, 2026

A total of 13 World Cup matches will be played in Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara this June and July. Mexico is co-hosting the quadrennial tournament with the United States and Canada.

Government to expose ‘all the lies’ that were disseminated on Sunday 

A reporter said that members of criminal groups disseminated AI videos on Sunday that created panic, added to fear and were economically damaging as they could lead to a loss of tourism revenue. He asked the president whether it was time to put an end to “this freedom they say they have to lie and distort,” shielded by the right to freedom of speech.

“It is very difficult to define the line where you punish and where you don’t, where there is censorship and where there is not,” Sheinbaum said.

She added that on Wednesday, the government, in its regular “lie detector” mañanera segment, will present “all the lies” that were spread on Sunday.

“Planes burning. Where? The operators of the Guadalajara Airport themselves were saying, ‘there’s no problem, everything’s OK,” Sheinbaum said.

“… There was a lot of news with a very bad intent on Sunday, seeking to create terror, and there was a lot of misinformation,” she said.

Instead of seeking to sanction misinformation, Sheinbaum said she was in favor of encouraging people to stay reliably informed via the government’s official channels of communication, including its social media accounts.

She also said that Mexico has “very responsible” people who “know how to distinguish” reality from fantasy.

Sheinbaum highlights that the security situation has improved since the violent chaos on Sunday 

Sheinbaum noted that there were fewer incidents of violence on Monday than on Sunday, when narco-blockades were set up in a majority of Mexico’s states, countless businesses were set on fire and 25 National Guard officers were killed in clashes with CJNG members.

Arson attacks and narco-blockades continue in Jalisco as CJNG responds to El Mencho’s death

She said she was hopeful that there would be a further normalization of “activities” on Tuesday.

Sheinbaum said that her government is “working every day” to improve security in Mexico, and highlighted that additional military personnel and National Guard troops have been deployed to Jalisco and “some areas” of Michoacán.

After the assassination of the mayor of Uruapan on Nov. 1, the government launched a 57-billion-peso (US $3.3 billion) initiative called “Plan Michoacán for Peace and Justice.”

Earlier this month, the government reported that homicides in the state have declined since the plan was implemented.