U.S. State Dept. Revokes Mexican Band’s Visa Over Drug Kingpin Praise

The U.S. Department of State revoked the travel visa of a Mexican band that was set to tour the U.S. this month after they prominently displayed images of a notorious drug kingpin at a recent concert.

Mexican corrido group Los Alegres del Barranco was scheduled to perform April 5 in Austin, Texas, the first in a handful of planned shows this side of the border. However, during their concert Saturday in Guadalajara, the group’s video backdrop displayed images of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, a.k.a. “El Mencho,” the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (JNGC), Billboard reports; in February, Secretary of State Marco Rubio named the JNGC as both a Foreign Terrorist Organization and Specially Designated Global Terrorist.

According to the BBC, the song the band played that accompanied the “El Mencho” images similarly praised the drug kingpin, calling him “a man of war who loves his family” and celebrated his exploits. (The BBC notes that Los Alegres del Barranco also have a song honoring Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.)

Los Alegres del Barranco first drew condemnation from Mexican politicians — including President Claudia Sheinbaum, who criticized the band’s actions as “glorification of crime” and opened an investigation — before lawmakers stateside caught wind of the “El Mencho” images, leading to the revocation of the band’s visas and ultimately the cancellation of their upcoming shows in the U.S.

“I’m a firm believer in freedom of expression, but that doesn’t mean that expression should be free of consequences,” Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau wrote on social media Tuesday. 

“A Mexican band, ‘Los Alegres del Barranco,’ portrayed images glorifying drug kingpin ‘El Mencho’ Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes — head of the grotesquely violent CJNG cartel — at a recent concert in Mexico. I’m pleased to announce that the State Department has revoked the band members’ work and tourism visas. In the Trump Administration, we take seriously our responsibility over foreigners’ access to our country. The last thing we need is a welcome mat for people who extol criminals and terrorists.”

Neither the band nor the U.S. Department of State responded to Rolling Stone’s requests for comment at press time.