THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch King Willem-Alexander swore in a new minority Dutch coalition government Monday led by the Netherlands' youngest-ever and first openly gay prime minister.
Rob Jetten, 38, heads a three-party administration made up of his centrist D66, the center-right Christian Democrats and the center-right People's Party for Freedom and Democracy. Together, the parties hold only 66 of the lower house of parliament's 150 seats. That means he will have to negotiate with opposition lawmakers to find support for every piece of legislation his government wants to pass.
That is likely to be tough with the biggest opposition bloc, the newly merged Green Left and Labor Party, already expressing strong objections to Jetten's plans to cut health care and welfare costs.
Opposition leader Jesse Klaver said Friday in a message on X that under the new government's plans, “ordinary people will have to pay hundreds of euros more, while the wealthiest are not asked to contribute anything extra." He added: "We are taking responsibility to adjust these plans. This must change.”
Jetten and his team of ministers formally accepted their new roles when they were sworn in by the king at his palace in a forest on the edge of The Hague.
Jetten narrowly won an Oct. 29 election, taking the same number of seats as anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom, but with slightly more votes. The final result was decided by a count of postal ballots.
The snap election was forced when Wilders, who won the previous election, withdrew his ministers from the four-party right-wing coalition his party led in June last year. Outgoing premier Dick Schoof, whose 11-month-old administration was one of the shortest-lived governments in Dutch political history, has been caretaker leader ever since.
Jetten wants to usher in a new era of consensus in the Dutch parliament, after years of factional bickering across the splintered political spectrum.
He also is looking for a reset of the Netherlands influential role in the European Union, which was widely seen as having eroded under the previous government.
Jetten, who has in the past voiced criticism of U.S. President Donald Trump, told The Associated Press last month that one of the first things he will do after taking office is “talk to my colleagues in Europe to see what role the Dutch can play again in strengthening the European cooperation.”
But he also underscored the importance of ties with the United States, a major trading partner for the Dutch economy.
Jetten has pledged to maintain strong Dutch support for Ukraine as it battles against Russia's four-year-old invasion.
The ministers' posts in the new Cabinet are shared between Jetten's party and his coalition partners.
The new foreign minister is Christian Democrat Tom Berendsen. He is expected to seek to rejuvenate the Netherlands' position in Europe having previously served as the leader of his party's bloc in the European Parliament.
One name that is not changing is the finance minister. Eelco Heinen retains the job he held in the previous administration, where he was seen as a steady hand on the government's purse strings.
Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, a former justice minister and leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, moves to the defense ministry where she will oversee moves to beef up the nation's military.
Bart van den Brink, a Christian Democrat, has been tapped to be minister for asylum and immigration policy and is expected to continue moves by the previous government to rein in migration and speed up procedures for handling asylum applications.
Rob Jetten,leader of the Democrats 66, D66, arrives to be sworn in as prime minister by King Willem-Alexander at Royal Palace Huis ten Bosch in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Ministers of the new three-party minority government pose with King Willem-Alexander, center right, prime minster Rob Jetten, center left, and deputy prime minister Dilan Yesilgöz, front row right, on the steps of Royal Palace Huis ten Bosch in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Ministers of the new three-party minority government pose with King Willem-Alexander, center right, prime minster Rob Jetten, center left, and deputy prime minister Dilan Yesilgöz, front row right, on the steps of Royal Palace Huis ten Bosch in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
TAPALPA, Mexico (AP) — A day after the Mexican army killed the country's most powerful drug lord, the picturesque town where it happened was a study in contrasts.
Tourist shops in Tapalpa were open Monday, and workers were on the job. But gunshots also rang out, and in the street was a dead man lying beside a bullet-pocked vehicle.
Meanwhile, heavily armed Mexican security forces kept up their battle with cartel gunmen following the killing that sparked a surge in violence and put the country on edge. Cartel fighters continued to block roads as smoke rose on the outskirts of the town in the state of Jalisco.
More than 70 people died in the attempt to capture Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes and the aftermath, authorities said Monday. Known as as “El Mencho,” he was the notorious leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of the most powerful criminal organizations in Mexico.
The body count taken by security officials included security forces, suspected cartel members and others. Officials did not offer details, and the circumstances of most of the deaths were unclear.
Oseguera Cervantes was the boss of one of the fastest-growing criminal networks in Mexico, known for trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine to the United States and staging brazen attacks against Mexican government officials. The organization responded to his death with widespread violence, including erecting more than 250 roadblocks across 20 states and setting fire to vehicles.
Oseguera Cervantes died after a shootout with the Mexican military. Mexican Defense Secretary Ricardo Trevilla said Monday that authorities had followed one of his romantic partners to his hideout in Tapalpa.
The cartel leader and two bodyguards fled into a wooded area where they were seriously wounded in a firefight. They were taken into custody and died on the way to Mexico City, Trevilla said.
In a different location in Jalisco, soldiers killed another high-ranking cartel member who Trevilla said was coordinating violence and offering more than $1,000 for every soldier killed.
The dead included 25 members of the Mexican National Guard who were killed in six separate attacks, Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said.
Harfuch said some 30 criminal suspects were killed in Jalisco, and four others were killed in the neighboring state of Michoacan. Also killed were a prison guard and an agent from the state prosecutor’s office.
As the threat of more violence loomed, several Mexican states canceled school Monday, while local and foreign governments warned their citizens to stay inside.
The White House confirmed that the U.S. provided intelligence support to the operation to capture the cartel leader and applauded Mexico's army for taking down a man who was one of the most wanted criminals in both countries.
Mexico hoped the death of the world's biggest fentanyl traffickers would ease Trump administration pressure to do more against the cartels, but many people were anxious as they waited to see the powerful cartel's reaction.
The U.S. Embassy said via X that its personnel in eight cities and in the state of Michoacan would shelter in place and work remotely Monday. It warned U.S. citizens in many parts of Mexico to do the same.
Cars began circulating in Guadalajara before sunrise Monday with the start of the workweek, a notable change from Sunday, when Jalisco's state capital and Mexico's second-largest city was almost completely shut down as fearful residents stayed home.
More than 1,000 people were stuck overnight in Guadalajara’s zoo, where they slept in buses.
Luis Soto Rendón, the zoo’s director, said many had been trapped there since Sunday morning, when violence broke out in Jalisco and the surrounding states. Families concluded they could not return home in nearby states like Zacatecas and Michoacan.
“We decided to let people stay inside the zoo for their safety,” Soto said. “There are small children and senior citizens.”
José Luis Ramírez, a 54-year-old therapist, was in a long line of people waiting outside a pharmacy, one of the few businesses that were open Monday in Guadalajara. Families were buying food, medicine, water, diapers and baby formula, from pharmacists through a chained door.
It was Ramírez’s first time leaving the house since the violence erupted, but he struck a hopeful tone, saying that despite the bloodshed, civilians needed to move forward.
“We have to not think scared, but be cool-headed, like they say, and take things as they come,” he said.
Those who had to work carefully made their way across the city.
Irma Hernández, a 43-year-old hotel security guard in Guadalajara, normally takes public transportation to her job, but buses were not running, and she had no way to cross the city. Her bosses organized a private car to pick her up. Her family, she said, was staying at home, too scared to leave.
“I am worried because I don't know how to get home if something happens,” she said.
U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded Mexico do more to fight the smuggling of fentanyl, threatening to impose more tariffs or take unilateral military action if the country does not show results.
The operation may also pave the way for more violence as rival criminal groups take advantage of the blow dealt to El Mencho's organization, said David Mora, Mexico analyst for the International Crisis Group.
“This might be a moment in which those other groups see that the cartel is weakened and want to seize the opportunity for them to expand control and to gain control over Cartel Jalisco in those states,” he said.
Ever since President Claudia Sheinbaum took office, "the army has been way more confrontational, combative against criminal groups in Mexico,” Mora said. “This is signaling to the U.S. that if we keep cooperating, sharing intelligence, Mexico can do it. We don’t need U.S. troops on Mexican soil."
The U.S. State Department had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest of El Mencho. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel began operating around 2009.
In February 2025, the Trump administration designated the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization. It has been one of the most aggressive cartels in its attacks on the military — including on helicopters — and is a pioneer in launching explosives from drones and installing mines.
At a blockade Monday on the outskirts of Tapalpa, 25-year-old Joel Ramírez and two friends were waiting for soldiers to clear a blockade of tree limbs. He hauls things in his pickup for a living and had not been able to get home since Sunday's violence.
“Everything seems calmer, but we were almost there and got stuck,” he said. “We're scared.”
Verza reported from Mexico City. Associated Press writer Fabiola Sánchez in Mexico City also contributed to this report.
Vehicles pass a burned car a day after the Mexican army killed the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho," in Guadalajara, Mexico, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
National Guard patrol past a charred vehicle the day after the Mexican army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho," in Guadalajara, Mexico, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
This wanted poster released on Dec. 4, 2024 on the U.S. State Department website shows leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho.” (U.S. State Department via AP)
A charred truck blocks a road the day after the Mexican army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho," in Guadalajara, Mexico, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum gives her the daily, morning news conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, the day after the Mexican army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)
Vehicles pass a burned car a day after the Mexican army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho," in Guadalajara, Mexico, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
Mexican Security and Citizen Protection Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch speaks as President Claudia Sheinbaum looks on during her daily, morning news conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, the day after the Mexican army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)
A National Guard patrols the area outside of the General Prosecutor's headquarters in Mexico City, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after authorities reported that the Mexican Army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Ginette Riquelme)
Charred vehicles sit in a parking lot sit outside a shopping mall in Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, as authorities reported that the Mexican Army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Alejandra Leyva)
National Guards patrol the area outside of the General Prosecutor's headquarters in Mexico City, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after authorities reported that the Mexican Army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Ginette Riquelme)
Carts stand outside of a vandalized supermarket in Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after the death of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Alejandra Leyva)
Army soldiers patrol outside the National Palace ahead of the daily, morning news conference by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in Mexico City, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)
A police officer stands guard by a charred vehicle after it was set on fire, on a road in Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after the death of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Alejandra Leyva)
A charred vehicle sits at a damaged supermarket in Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after the death of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Alejandra Leyva)
National Guards remove pedestrians by the General Prosecutor's headquarters in Mexico City, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after the death of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Ginette Riquelme)
A soldier stands guard by a charred vehicle after it was set on fire, in Cointzio, Michoacán state, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, following the death of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Oseguera, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Armando Solis)
A man rides a bike next to a convenience store that was set on fire, in San Francisco del Ricon, Guanajuato state, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after the death of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Alfredo Valadez)
