GUADALAJARA, Mexico — With the World Cup about to begin, heavily armed police and National Guard officers are patrolling the streets of Guadalajara as authorities try to reassure visitors and residents that security won’t be an issue in a city that was rocked by cartel violence earlier this year.Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco state, will host four World Cup matches including South Korea against Czech Republic on the opening day Thursday. Mexico is co-hosting the tournament with the United States and Canada.Local officials say visitors have nothing to worry about despite the outbreak in violence in February following the Mexican military’s killing of the country’s most powerful cartel boss. The operation and waves of violence killed 70 people as cartel gunmen set fire to cars to block streets and fought with Mexican forces.“It’s important to remember that normalcy returned to the state in less than 48 hours after what happened in February,” Alfonso Briseño, the security coordinator in Jalisco told The Associated Press in the run-up to the World Cup. “I invite all tourists, all citizens of other countries, especially those who will be playing here in Guadalajara… They will be welcome. The Mexican government and the state of Jalisco guarantee their safety.”Briseño stressed that Jalisco has not faced any security issues recently and that a resurgence of trouble was not expected. He said local authorities were prepared to react quickly if anything happened again.Nearly 15,000 security personnel have been deployed in the region, including National Guard officers with assault rifles and vehicle-mounted machine guns near the stadium where the games will be played.“We are feeling very safe. We are not concerned about the same issues that we had a few months ago,” said Rodolfo Valencia, a 22-year-old resident of Guadalajara. “You can see …
