Mexico offers protection to famed singer after drug cartel death threats

Mexican singer Natanael Cano performs at the Arre Music Festival in Mexico City, Sept. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano, File)

MEXICO CITY — Authorities in Mexico are offering state protection to famed regional Mexican singer Natanael Cano and other artists after a drug cartel in northern Mexico publicly threatened them, prosecutors confirmed to The Associated Press.

Photos of a banner threatening the lives of Cano, a singer of corridos, a musical genre often linked to drug cartel violence, and several other artists in the Sonora region circulated on social media over the weekend.

The banner was signed by "Jalisco Matasalas," a group within a faction of the Sinaloa cartel known as the Chapitos, which sowed terror in northern Mexico in recent months in a bloody power struggle. The gang accused the singers of "financially helping" a rival gang known as Salazares.

"This is the last time you will receive a warning, just in time for you to cut the crap. Mind your own business," the banner read. "If you don't heed this warning, you will be shot."

The Sonoran Prosecutor's Office on Tuesday told the AP that the threatening message was found hanging from a school and that they had opened an investigation.

Allan de la Rosa, a spokesperson for the prosecutors, said authorities offered state protection to the artists to "prevent any aggression related to the direct threat displayed on the banner." He did not elaborate on the nature of the protection.

Cano's communications team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Corridos, made up of ballads from northern Mexico, is a musical genre that has long been linked to drug violence, but they also depict the harsh realities faced by many Mexicans who live under such violence. The genre, along with Mexican regional music, is experiencing a resurgence with younger artists like Cano and Peso Pluma blending classic styles with other genres like trap music.

Over the past five years, streaming of Mexican music has grown 400 per cent on Spotify and in 2023 Mexican artist Peso Pluma bested Taylor Swift as the most streamed artist on YouTube.

Such artists have long faced sharp criticisms from authorities as well as threats from drug gangs.

In 2023, Peso Pluma -- who paid homage to drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman in songs -- was forced to cancel a show in Tijuana after the 25-year-old received threats from a rival of the Sinaloa Cartel, warning that "it would be your last performance" if he proceeded with the concert.

Later, Tijuana banned the performance of narco ballads altogether to protect "the eyes and ears" of youths as it tries to contain violence. Local authorities in northern states previously banned musicians singing narco-corridos.

The threats against Cano follow a surge of violence in Sinaloa and other northern Mexican states triggered by the kidnapping and capture of cartel boss Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada and the ensuing all-out-war between rival factions of the Sinaloa Cartel, including the one that allegedly threatened Cano.