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Corruption in Latin America:

The Issue of drug cartels in Mexico

Key Ideas and Issues in Latin America

Paris Alvarado

May 2022

Gregory, Fer. Detective board with evidence, crime scene photos and map. Shutterstock, Inc. n.d. https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/detective-board-evidence-crime-scene-photos-1192132663.

What is Corruption?

Learn more about what corruption is, why it is an important issue in Mexico, and who is involved as well as affected.

What is Corruption?

  • Corruption is a way of distorting justice and benefiting one's self-interest

  • It typically involves bribery and continues to be legitimized by money

  • I will be analyzing how corruption by drug cartels is a pervasive issue that infiltrates all levels of political, economic, and social life in Mexico

https://cdn.cfr.org/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_xl/public/image/2016/08/A-Game-of-Inches-The-Uncertain-Fight-Against-Corruption-in-Latin-America-LAM.jpg

Why is it an important issue?

Why is it an important issue?

  • Corruption must be addressed because it is one of the most prevalent issues in Latin American countries today; however, it is especially crucial when discussing drug cartels in Mexico.

  • Cartels not only consume millions of dollars, but they are also responsible for taking the lives of thousands every year.

  • Lastly, corruption destroys the citizen’s confidence in democracy and hinders regional growth since it becomes difficult to know who to trust.

Who is involved/affected?

Who is affected/involved?

  • The drug cartel's that influence different areas in Mexico are the main ones involved; however, government officials and local people can also be included depending on the situation.

  • For instance, when it comes to:
  • Cartel and Officials- the officials receive bribes in exchange for information and favors (both win)
  • Innocent people who are caught in the crossfire of cartel wars (the cartel wins)

The History of Narcos in Mexico

What are Narcos/Cartels?

Discover more about the history of Narcos in Mexico in addition to how they gained the power and influence they hold today.

  • A Narco is a person who illegally traffics or deals drugs
  • A drug cartel is a criminal organization that traffics drugs

  • In the 1940s, the Prohibition Era in the U.S. allowed Mexican drug dealers to profit from drug trade (Izaguirre, 2013)
  • In the 1980s, the Mexican drug cartels fully emerged after kingpins in Colombia were captured

  • The Mexican drug cartels had agreements with federal authorities
  • However, these agreements were broken when Vicente Fox, a member of the PAN, became president
  • In 2006, President Felipe Calderon declared a war against drugs within Mexico (Izaguirre, 2013)

  • Drug Cartel's used violence and corruption to prove they would do anything to maintain power and get their way

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/82AC/production/_109325433_gettyimages-474221265.jpg

https://southfront.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/191020-kryt-mexico-cartel-hero_jmi2m8.jpg

How did they gained power

How did they gain power?

The Mexican cartel is very powerful and it has gained/maintained its dominance in Mexico's society by using intimidation, corruption, and fear of narcoterrorism. (Izaguirre, 2013).

Why Taking Out Drug Lords is a Bad Idea | The War on Drugs. Perf. VICE. 2021. Youtube. Accessed 5 May 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX4DJ9SHWkg.

Effects of Narco Corruption

What effects does Narco Corruption have on Mexico?

Find out more about how corruption imposed by Narcos affects all levels of society::

  • politically,
  • economically, &
  • socially

As stated before, corruption imposed by drug cartels affects all levels of Mexican society politically, economically, and socially.

https://www.start.umd.edu/tracking-cartels-infographic-series-major-cartel-operational-zones-mexico

Politically

Political Effect

  • In exchange for bribes, corrupt officials help cartels by providing them with "classified information, moving illegal drugs, targeting rival criminal groups, and actively handicapping security operations" (Martinez-Fernandez, 2021, pg.11)
  • For instance, El Chapo escaped capture many times because of paid informants who would warn him in advance (Martinez-Fernandez, 2021, pg.12)

RollingStone https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/recapturing-mexican-drug-lord-el-chapo-guzman/6/

Narco-Lawyer and Politician Assassinations

  • Although lawyers and politicians can benefit from cartel bribes, these rewards do not come without fear and threats of potentially being killed when the cartel does not get their way.

  • For instance, at least 565 politicians or candidates have been targeted by some sort of crime in Mexico (Gallon and Rivers, 2021)

  • In addition, many narco-lawyers, such as Raquenel Villanueva who had survived multiple murder assassinations before 2009, are killed by Mexico's cartel violence (Ellingwood and Wilkinson, 2014)

Economic Effect

Economically

  • Drug trafficking is the most profitable organized criminal business in Mexico, and it increases money circulation

  • In 1994, drug trade contributed around $30 billion to Mexican economy

  • In 2019, an estimated $50 billion were laundered in Mexico (Martinez-Fernandez, 2021, pg 15)

  • Drug cartels provide jobs to poor people in disadvantaged neighborhoods

http://newstaco.com/2011/04/08/wachovia-helped-launder-mexican-drug-money/

Social Effect

Socially

  • being a smuggler is a tradition in families, and networks are passed down from generations (Patenostro, 1995, pg 44)

  • Drug cartels invoke both fear and respect in communities
  • People are often scared to report crimes due to fear of retaliation
  • However, Narcos are also often seen as benefactors to towns and villagers because they give back to poor communities and generate money (Harrison, 2012, 95)

  • 90% of homicides involve members of cartels killing one another (Harrison, 2012, pg. 94)
  • Small percentage of innocent bystanders have been killed in the crossfire

Getty Images. “Mexico City, The Poorest of The Poor, Newly Arrived From The Country, These People Have Built Homes From Industrial Cardboard And Boxes”. Universal Images Group Collection. Dec. 06, 2005. https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/mexico-city-the-poorest-of-the-poor-newly-arrived-from-the-news-photo/129374054

Journalist Assassinations

  • Mexico is know to be the world's most dangerous country for journalists, being that more than 150 reporters have been murdered since 2000

  • So far this year, nine journalists have been killed in states plagued by drug cartel violence (Associated Press, 2022)

Journalist

Assassinations

Narco-States in Latin America

Is this a Latin American Issue?

The Case of Colombia:

  • In the 1980s-1990s, the U.S. worked closely with Colombia to go after kingpins, such as Pablo Escobar, which helped dismantle large cartels in the region
  • However, Columbia still produced "an estimated 70% of cocaine consumed " in 2021 (Colombia Reports, 2021)

  • Mexico and Columbia have different histories and their drug wars played out in different ways
  • In Columbia, taking down the kingpin might have worked, but in Mexico, this method doesn't work because it increases levels of competition and violence between rival cartels

Although very much present in Mexico, read more about how Narcos impact other Latin American countries, such as Colombia, and how they have tried to deal with the situation.

Include:

  • Columbia
  • Honduras
  • Mexico
  • Nicaragua
  • Panama
  • Venezuela

https://www.amazon.com/Pablo-Escobar-Mugshot-Poster-Artwork/dp/B01M72XRCL

https://journeys.dartmouth.edu/chaudhry_lacs20_fa16/about-nicaragua/

https://colombiareports.com/colombia-drug-trafficking/

Conclusion

Conclusion

  • It is essential that people understand how corruption imposed by drug cartels, or Narcos, has infiltrated political, social, and economic levels in Mexican society and how it affects all citizens.

  • Although the drug cartel has been shown to boost the Mexican economy, such corruption takes a negative toll on other matters like government resources, security, and most importantly, the citizen's trust in democracy.

  • In order to start working on the cartel issue, the Mexican government needs to hold higher authorities accountable for their actions and work closely with the U.S., like Columbia did, instead of both countries blaming each other.

Bibliography

Bibliography

  • Associated Press. "Journalists killed in northern Mexico, the ninth this year." Los Angeles Times. 5 May 2022. https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2022-05-05/journalist-killed-in-northern-mexico.
  • Colombia Reports. "Colombia’s drug trade." 12 August 2021. Colombia Reports. 4 May 2022. https://colombiareports.com/colombia-drug-trafficking/.
  • Ellingwood, Ken and Tracy Wilkinson. "Mexico’s ‘narco-lawyers’ risk everything." Los Angeles Times, 16 September 2014. https://www.latimes.com/la-fg-mexico-lawyers12-2009oct12-story.html.
  • Gallón, Natalie and Matt Rivers. "At least 88 politicians have been killed in Mexico since September." CNN, 30 May 2021. https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/30/americas/mexico-political-killings-intl/index.html.
  • Harrison, Meghan. “Mexico’s Challenges: Why Colombia’s Solution to the Drug War Won’t Work in Mexico.” American Intelligence Journal, vol. 30, no. 2, 2012, pp. 93–98, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26202019. Accessed 4 May 2022.
  • Izaguirre, Pamela. “Narco-Politics: How Mexico Got There and How it Can Get Out,” Council on Hemishperic Affairs. 2014. www.coha.org/narco-politics-how-mexico-got-there-and-how-it-can-get -out . Accessed 4 May 2022
  • Martinez-Fernandez, Andres. Money Laundering and Corruption in Mexico: CONFRONTING THREATS TO PROSPERITY, SECURITY, AND THE US-MEXICO RELATIONSHIP. American Enterprise Institute, 2021, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep30205. Accessed 4 May 2022.
  • Patenostro, Silvana. “Mexico as a Narco-Democracy.” World Policy Journal, vol. 12, no. 1, 1995, pp. 41–47, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40209397. Accessed 4 May 2022.
  • Why Taking Out Drug Lords is a Bad Idea | The War on Drugs. Perf. VICE. 2021. Youtube. Accessed 5 May 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX4DJ9SHWkg.
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