Joaquin Guzman Thesis

It is unknown when Joaquin Guzman was born. In fact, very little is known about his childhood. A man who did not have the opportunity to receive an education, had an abusive father and had lost brothers in his youth. Joaquin is regarded as a hard worker by some of Mexican people that he was able to influence throughout his lifetime. Others, and these beyond the realm of Sinaloa regard him as a drug kingpin, known for the murder of many and the ruining of even more. A man known to have at one point handled over eighty percent of Chicago’s drugs, his arrest presented a discussion that had been ignored by international standards but that those affected most by poverty in the rural regions of Mexico had felt for years. The Mexican government had

easily forgotten about the poor, those that did not have the same opportunities as others in large cities, they had little options for employment and their futures could not be as idealistic. When Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was captured in Mexico, the people of Sinaloa took to the streets in protest and concern, for not only had El Chapo provided so many with employments and the prospects of a brighter future but he also offered them security from a territorial war by other cartels. El Chapo and others that give back to their communities, sometimes do more for the good of their people than their own government. This does not change that they are bad people, but rather the analysis of the government that failed their people and the logic behind benefiting their own people should be taken into consideration when categorizing the bad deeds of a criminal drug kingpin.
Joaquin Guzman was born into a poor family in La Tuna, Sinaloa, a small rural town. Similar to others in his tiny town, his father was a cattle farmer, officially, but believed to also have been a poppy seed farmer. Joaquin Guzman dropped out of school in the third grade in order to work for his father and would sell oranges in an attempt to help his family. Guzman was the fourth child of ten, but after the death of his three older brothers, he was then placed upon the position of being the oldest and having to help his father. It is stated that his father was abusive, often beating Joaquin or even forcing him to leave their home. Although Joaquin allowed his father’s abuse, he would step in and prevent it when it would be directed towards his mother or siblings. In terms of the education Joaquin, or anyone in his town received, their nearest school was over sixty miles away, therefore, their only option for an education was by visiting teachers that would spend months in tiny towns educating those in the community before moving on to the next town. During the harvest season Joaquin and his brothers would hike the mountains and take the buds of poppy seeds, which their father would then sell in order to make more money. This money however, was used on alcohol and women. Joaquin, tired of his father’s mismanagement of their income, took matters into his own hands and began a business with his cousins, where they all cultivated a marijuana plantation.
Joaquin Guzman earned the title of El Chapo in his youth, due to his small stature of five feet and six inches.

After his father kicked him out of his house at the age of fifteen, El Chapo moved in with his grandparents for five years before following in the footsteps of his uncle and one of the “first pioneers” in drug trafficking, Pedro Aviles Pérez. El Chapo was known for being ambitious, even in his youth. He would pressure his superiors to often allow him and increase his shipments. Guzman was known as someone that was not to be messed with. If shipments were late or wrong, El Chapo would shoot the person that had wronged him, and his superiors liked that about him. Those that were on the other end of the gun however, did not, for they feared him and were willing to pay more for El Chapo’s shipments as long as they were not killed. El Chapo’s no nonsense rules led him to be introduced to one of the major drug lords Félix Gallardo, who employed him as a part of his logistics team, which was in charge of getting drugs from Colombia through land, air and sea. Gallardo had killed a Drug Enforcement Administration agent, a move that upset the United States and forced Mexico to act and punish those involved. When Gallardo was captured, El Chapo seized his opportunity and the land that was under the Guadalajara Cartel was divided amongst him and other drug traffickers. The land that was given to El Chapo was land that bordered the state of Arizona and

California.
As El Chapo gained power, the United States government increased their interest. However, it was difficult to capture El Chapo or find instances upon which they could incriminate him, for there were corrupt customs agents that made sure any money being sent back to El Chapo was not inspected. Furthermore, the power El Chapo had was not only due to corrupt customs agents but also to police, military and politicians in Mexico that had helped him along his path. The first time that El Chapo was captured and imprisoned, it was due to the fact that some of his enemies believed him to be in a car outside of an airport, where they fired many shots and killed the Cardinal and Archbishop of Guadalajara. Seeing as such an event enraged many, the Mexican government opened a witch hunt upon which all those that had been involved were being sought after. El Chapo, fearing for his arrest escaped the country, however he was captured in Guatemala and extradited back to Mexico in 1993. However, even while in prison, the guards were bribed in order to give El Chapo and opulent life style even behind bars, where guards acted as his servants. In 2001, El Chapo escaped prison with the help of corrupt officers. They opened the door to his cell, and drove him out of prison, only for El Chapo to escape from the car that was being driven when they stopped for gas. According to officials, it is estimated that seventy-eight people were implicated in aiding his escape.
Even while in prison, El Chapo was still running the Sinaloa Cartel.

As it grew in size, what also increased was the number of people affected by him. According to the United States government, it is estimated that El Chapo’s reach extended beyond that of Pablo Escobar’s. As more and more of his shipments were making their way into the United States, more people were becoming addicted to the methamphetamines and other drugs. He was believed to have handled an estimated eighty percent of the drugs in Chicago at one point. He bribed officials and people that were supposed to look after the Mexican people, and he and his henchmen killed many. However, when he was captured and arrested a second time, the people took to the streets. The people of rural Mexican cities saw El Chapo as a business man that went from being poor and not having an education, to being one of the richest men in the world. According to those that protested the arrest, they mentioned the opportunities that El Chapo had provided them. He offered them jobs and an income at times where their own Mexican government had not done anything for them. Those same protesters also faced the fact that El Chapo and his men were murders by stating that even though homicides were tragic, the rate at which the Mexican people were dying of hunger and chronic illness that are caused in great parts by the Mexican government. The mayor of Culiacan, seeing the protesters marching exclaimed that it must be a sick joke. Some

even believed that the people were paid to protest, and although money and food was given out, whether it be a bribe or not, it represents why some marched in protest. When was the last time the government had given the poor and hungry something to eat? Even when El Chapo had been captured, his workers were still feeding them and giving them money. The mayor could describe their protest as a sick joke, however, if he were to lose the next election, the people would not protest his leaving the same way.
Although El Chapo was a bad person, he helped many. In a country that is over run with cartels, especially those that are constantly battling for property, not only along the United States border, but throughout all of Mexico in order to secure paths for their drugs, no one was willing to step into El Chapo’s part. His power gave security to the people living around him, and once he was arrested their concerns increased. He gave jobs and the prospects of opportunities to others, because he too had been born into a poor family that only had enough to get by.
The morally relevant issue raised is the support that El Chapo and many other drug kingpins give to their people. They offer the youth employment, which in turn provides income for families and allows for economic support. El Chapo does not stop being a guilty man simply due to the fact that he does good, his good deeds are a benefit of a system that he has taken control over. When the people were asked why they march and protest for El Chapo, they mentioned how they saw someone that was born in a situation similar to theirs and all the hard work and labor that he put into becoming a powerful and feared man. They did not see his actions any more corrupt that those of their elected officials, and instead they saw the benefits of his money. The people of Sinaloa felt safe, they knew who was involved in the drug business and avoided them. However, how much of the money can they actually accept. The question itself can best be asked in relation to family members of those working for El Chapo, but beyond that, an example exists within their own protest when he was captured, and how his workers supposedly handed out money. Should the people have turned that money away, and if yes, what about the food that was being handed to them. When El Chapo was captured, the people came together in an attempt to make their voices heard, but some came knowing that they would benefit from the free food and money.
Agency is a question that lies within all these actions. People who do not have the means, nor the ability to say no to money that they are given. However, is that money not blood money, was it not acquired not only through the actions of illegal drugs being sold, but beyond that, the ruining of other lives. Was that food not given as a symbol of strength and power, or even a bribe. However, the ethical question is, should those that do not have much be forced to turn down the little their given due to ethical reasons. Take a mother for example, one who is struggling to pay the bills, and keep food in her children’s mouths. She may have her husband around, but all his money is spent on women and alcohol. Her son then joins a cartel, where he first works as distributing drugs and works his way up to working in the logistics of the drugs shipments. Does she turn his money down? What if her son joined the cartels in order to provide for his family. El Chapo started selling marijuana in order to provide for his family, and even more do so still, in the Sinaloa cartel, and in many others that have divided Mexico up into parts.