Narcos Culture in Mexico
This report will detail what Mexican Drug culture is and how it came to be commonly practiced across the borderlands of Mexico.
1. Mexican Drug Trade Drug trafficking in Mexico has been a political and social issue over the past 30 or so years. Narcotics such as cocaine, heroin, methanphetamines, marijuana, as well as firearms are all being moved across the border of Mexico into the United States. In response to the illegal activity, both Mexican and American governments have started a war on drugs. The war on drugs is considered a “killing machine” by the International Socialist Review (ISR). The ISR provides statistics that, since 2009 and up to 2013, there had been almost 70,000 confirmed deaths that are related
…show more content…
In a short three part documentary by VICE, Shane Smith and a camera crew took up interest in Narco Cinema and made their way down to Mexico in order to be on set, and possibly star in a film. While in Mexico, Smith had talked to two actors/directors about their past productions. One actor says that he has been in over 300, 35mm camera movies, and over 1000 movies, if you include straight to video releases. Jorge Reynoso is another actor/director that has starred and directed several hundred movies over the years. Both actors told Smith that these movies are based off of what goes on in the news and old stories of past drug dealers. Reynoso even mentioned that he has worked with some of the narcos, to help portray their stories and adventures. Working in this field of cinema is dangerous as several directors and producers have been murdered due to failed portrayals of …show more content…
Corridos are popular ballads or narratives and, in this case re-tell the lives and stories of narcos (website). According to BBC UK, corridos have been around since the Mexican revolution, and in the past 30 years, corridos have become more focused on the lives of real drug dealers (cite). BBC interviewed a former guitarist and corridos writer and quoted,"The first thing a drug runner would do after a successful run was to hire someone to write a corrido about it."(cite). Corridos writers are usually under pressure to create an accurate and glorifying depiction of the trafficking stories. Many writers do not place a cheap price on writing a corridos either. Prices range from 7,000 to 15,000 dollars a song. In an article by The Guardian, they quoted someone in saying that narco corridos are “...all the young people want to buy,”(cite). Several corridos writers, such as El Komander, Los Tucanes de Tijuana, and BuKnas De Culiacan all produce music that has over 6 million mexican American listeners (cite). Narco corridos are an increasingly popular staple of music, especially near the border states between Mexico and the United
The topic I have chosen to address is the drug culture in Mexico. I will aim to answer the question: how has the drug culture in Mexico corrupted its youth? The geography of Mexico has contributed greatly to it becoming a drug trafficking hot spot. Mexico is located in the middle of the world’s largest consumer and producer of cocaine. The United States is the world’s largest consumer of cocaine and Colombia is the world’s largest producer of cocaine. Drug cartels have taken advantage of this location and control many different areas in Mexico. In Mexico the most powerful Cartels are based in the north. The reason for this is to establish
The Spanish romance is a story song (ballad) in otosyllabic quatrain. An example of a Spanish romance is “Romance de Delgadina” which can also be heard in a corrido version (“Delgadina” by Lydia Mendoza). Like the Spanish romance, corridos are used to tell stories about historical people, places, and events in Mexico. In The Bracero Experience: Elitelore Versus Folklore, Maria Herrera-Sobek states “Mexican corridos or Mexican folksongs yields valuable information as to the ideology, world view, political, economic, and social situation of the Mexican people.” Some of the Mexican communities saw corridos as oral history, which communicated moral lessons and gave them a reason to be proud of their national identity. The history traveled to communities that did not have the opportunities to receive an education, and allowed them to understand what was going in their
Mexican Drug Cartels have been a problem for many years. The cartels are an organized crime organization and they don’t just deal drugs; they commit murders too. The Cartels origins are traced back to the Columbian Cali and Medellin mega-cartels who were responsible for the majority of drug trafficking into the United States. Crime has existed for many years but it surfaced more when Pablo Escobar was popular. Pablo Escobar was one the main transporters for cocaine throughout Mexico and the United States coming straight out of Columbia. Law enforcement tried to stop the drug trade but Escobar formed a relationship with Mexico-based traffickers who smuggled drugs into the United States. Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo also known as “The Godfather” of the cartels. Seeing how he established the Guadalajara Cartel, which is recognized as the first Mexican Cartel, and were the first to link up with Escobar and started the transportation of cocaine
As history evolved, so did the style of the corrido. The corrido was incorporated into different genres of regional music, particularly of the Northern part of Mexico, known as musica nortena. These songs ranged from love ballads to songs that make political statements and even stories about what Wald calls “smuggle stories” (Wald 3). Many were written about legendary figures like Pancho Villa (Quinones 27). The norteno group Los Tigres Del Norte is given the credit for officially taking corridos to the next level- that of narcocorridos and giving the grounds for which the narcocorrido takes off. They sing about the rise of drug traffic in the US-Mexico borderlands as well as about the injustices that Mexicans and Mexican-Americans have faced and continue to face in El Norte, a very popular nickname for the United States. Los Tigres del Norte (who originate from the United States) never fail to make a political statement, shedding light on controversial issues such as the rising power of the drug cartels in Mexico, which results because they present an alternative to poverty that Mexicans face every day. The following are two stanzas from a corrido by Los Tigres del Norte:
Substance abuse and consumption have become an epidemic in America. The use of drugs results in countless drug-related deaths and causes states to spend billions of dollars to combat drug trafficking. Drugs are shipped in by sea, air, automobile, and even smuggled in by person. These drugs are supplied by drug cartels. These criminal organizations where formed to promote, control, produce, and distribute narcotic drugs. While these cartels operate from all parts of the world, some of the most infamous are the Mexican and Columbian Cartels. America has put policies into combating drug trafficking, however these policies are not
A journal article written by Luis Astorga and David A. Shirk, dives head first into the Mexican
Drug trafficking has plagued the U.S. and Mexican border for many years. The lack of cooperation between the U.S. and Mexican government has allowed millions of dollars worth of drugs to be smuggled over the border. However, recently the Mexican government extradited thirteen prisoners to the U.S showing it realizes that it can’t stop the drug problem on its own. One of the many factors that led the Mexican government to start extraditing was the escape of Mr. Guzman. This event embarrassed the Mexican government as it showed their inability to keep powerful drug traffickers contained. The sad truth is that the demand for drugs will always be present and people will always be able to supply them. Though governments try to enforce drug laws nationally, they can really only restrict the flow of drugs across the border. When Cormac McCarthy wrote the book No Country for Old Men, he tried to capture the brutality of the drug world, and the effect it can have.
The War on Drugs has devastated Mexico’s socio-economic infrastructure while failing to stop the manufacturing and trafficking of drugs, both domestically and internationally.
A report from the University of San Diego's Trans-Border Institute [PDF] details the challenges of calculating the toll of Mexico's drug violence, and analyzes shifting patterns in the country's organized crime.
In 2006, Mexico began to crack down on drug trafficking operations in union with the United States. Why all of the sudden? In regard to that question, my paper will include a history of events leading up to this sudden crack down on drug trafficking, from its start in the 1960’s until today. After the history of the drug war, I will discuss the main states involved like the United States and Mexico itself. Along with their main goal of eliminating drug trafficking all together, although it is a very high expectation. Mexico has sent out 50,000 soldiers that are being paid less than a burrito vendor, in attempt to lessen the
During the early 1990’s Colombia being one of the biggest exporters of narcotics in history, led by Pablo Escobar, who had a wide range of organized crime affiliations throughout Latin America. Pablo Escobar was a Colombian drug lord and he smuggled narcotics all the way to South Florida as when authorities tried to capture him. One of Pablo Escobar’s most important alliances was that of the Mexican-based traffickers. Escobar knew that this was an important trade route because of its geography and how it would be easier to smuggle the narcotics into the United States. This allowed a smuggling partnership between both countries and Mexico was to eventually lead their own drug based trafficking system with the help of Pablo Escobar. From the distributed drugs, cartels would take a certain amount of profit, and would use that money to bribe Mexican officials. By bribing Mexican officials it was insured that if smugglers were to be arrested they would either be let go, the case would be dropped or taking action against a rival smuggling group by giving away information about the rival’s plan to carry
Drug trafficking has been an ongoing epidemic in the United States, as well us other countries for an unimaginable amount of time. Illegal drugs varying from heroin and cocaine are primarily the main drugs that get smuggled in the United States from South America. Even marijuana and methamphetamine have been popular in the drug smuggling “industry”. These gangs go to a variety of different extents to get the job done. Drug trafficking increases the violence levels These drugs have been smuggled through the Southwest Border since the 1970s and are attempting to expand the distribution of those drugs into eastern U.S. markets. The countries of drug production have been seen as the worst affected by prohibition. In many countries worldwide, the illegal drug trafficking can be directly linked to high violent crimes. This is especially true in third world countries, but has still been seen as an issue for many developed countries all over the world. Drug trafficking increases the risk of violence and crime due rise of addiction along with an increase of death. It also effects the along with correctional system effects.to its high costs, Nearly all of the heroin produced in Mexico is destined for distribution in the United States. Organized crime groups operating from Mexico produce, smuggle, and distribute various illegal drugs after trafficking them across the US border. Trafficking groups that operate from Mexico tend to avoid penalties by their stealthy methods of smuggling
Drug trafficking has become an increasingly growing problem in the world today. Illegal drug trade is a worldwide black market consisting of production, distribution, packaging, and sale of illegal substances. Although today’s "War on Drugs" is a modern phenomenon, drug problems have been a common problem throughout history. The market for illegal drugs is massive, when we consider the estimated global drug trade value is worth $321 billion (Vulliamy). The most drug trafficking happens on the border between Mexico and the United States. Former Mexican President Felipe Calderon said, “Our neighbor is the largest consumer of drugs in the world. And everybody wants to sell him drugs through our door and our window”
As stated throughout this essay, Mexico has taken a hit with the outstanding homicide cases due to this drug war.
Drug cartels have grown and expanded throughout the interior and exterior of states for many years. The way drugs started to be introduced to Mexico, Colombia, and other places around the world was believed to be a myth. It was a tale that was known by many through storytelling, which over the years turned into an actual realistic issue. One of the most known cartels that existed for a long time was The Medellin Cartel. It became a subculture of its own, creating a world full of violence, women, money, firearms, death but most importantly power and fear. Located in Colombia this brutal subculture will show how they become one of the wealthiest subculture in the world surpassing even its own country’s riches.