Rough Draft
Millions of people die at the hands of cartels but despite that some people actually respect and love them. In the past year, Mexico's civil drug war has claimed some 6,300 lives. How and in what ways has the Mexican cartel affect the citizens of Mexico? Has the cartel done some good to the Mexican citizens or have they only done bad?
The Mexican drug cartel that we know of today started in the early 1980’s when the Guadalajara Cartel got broken up by the United States Government for kidnapping a United States DEA agent. That’s when Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo known as El Padrino in the drug world came in. Miguel broke up his territory from the Guadalajara Cartel and divided it among some of his most trusted friends and family
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members. Miguel divided his territories because he thought it would be harder for the government to connect everything back to him. He made sure that the other drug lords still depended on him because of his high connections in the government. Miguel ended up getting arrested in April 8, 1989 for the murder of the United States DEA agent when authorities found the dead body buried in a bag in one of Miguel’s ranches. Once Miguel wasn’t there to order the peace, is when the actual violence and the Mexican drug war started. The cartels started fighting each other over territories, routes, and Columbian partners that they needed to actually make the cocaine for them to smuggle into the United States. It took a long time and a lot of deaths for the Mexican government, people, and United States to realize that they had a huge problem in their hands, by than the cartel had already grown at a rapid rate and had gotten stronger and richer in just some few years. As the cartel keeps growing so does their wealth. A wealth that benefits not only the cartel but surrounding barrios. Some people think that the cartels is all bad but in reality they do some good for their people too. The government seems to overlook and look down at the poor barrios. This is where the cartels come to the rescue to the people of some of these poor barrios. In some poor communities that are located within some cartel’s territory the cartel is loved and respected. The cartel provides them with protection, money, food, and jobs. And in return they give the cartel unconditional support, turn a blind eye when they see things, and warn them when officials are coming. When drug lord Joaquin Guzman, known as "El Chapo," was arrested the people from his little town were upset. One girl from his town spoke out about it, “Christina says no one here is happy about Guzman's arrest. Because of Guzman, she says, everything is under control — people don't steal, kidnap or extort here. And the partiers say he helped the poor, paved roads, gave people jobs — the list of good deeds goes on." As much as the public wants to make them look like the bad guys’ drug lords can actually help their people out. When El Chapo was captured a lot of people were celebrating while the people in his hometown were devastated. They knew that El Chapo kept them safe and with his arrest there would be other cartels looking to take over his territory. Someone told the newspaper, “While officials celebrate his capture, many in his home state of Sinaloa — who viewed the kingpin as a helper of the poor and a keeper of the peace — are not as pleased.” These people saw the drug lord as a king who ruled over them and protected them. But just because some communities are treated well doesn’t mean all communities are. Some of their bad is extorting people who work hard for their living.
They make small rural communities pay so they won’t get killed. They know they can control these small communities because they are poor and there is no law enforcement there to protect the people. Cartels make sure that the people are scared of them and know that they won’t hesitate to torture them and/or kill them. They make the people pay a certain amount of money depending on the type of labor that that person does. In some small barrios teachers are now starting to fight back because apparently the cartels think that Mexican teachers make a lot more money than the average citizen living in a barrio. Teachers are the main ones getting extorted and death threats on not only their lives but their loved ones and students as well. “The demand is the same: teachers have until Oct.1 to start handing over half of their pay. If they do not, they risk their lives.” someone informed a news reporter about a situation going on in a small Mexican community. The teachers are fed up that because of these threats schools are being shut down. If schools keep shutting down these teachers can’t teach children who need and have the right of having an education, and they also lose their daily income, that they work so hard to gain. Everyone is mad that the government isn’t trying to help these poor teachers and their students from being blackmailed by a bunch of thugs. “State officials have tried to play down the school closings, which are concentrated in public schools in some of the city's poorest neighborhoods.” Instead the government is trying to downplay what is really going on. Teachers are uniting and forming unions to fight off extorting cartels in their communities, since they feel like the government won’t intervene to help them fight them off. Now the Mexican people have to fear for their lives just for stating their
opinions. Most people don’t speak up about the cartel out of fear, but when someone does there are consequences to pay. Mexico is supposedly a country with freedom of speech but how far does that freedom go when someone tries to speak up about the drug war going on and warn the Mexican citizens. The majority of well-organized cartels try to stay out of the public eye and be low-key about their business, therefor when someone keeps talking about them they get upset and kill that person. “Journalists and press freedom groups have expressed growing anger at Mexican authorities’ failure to tackle escalating violence against reporters and activists who dare to speak out against political corruption and organized crime.” Since there is a lot of political corruption in Mexico that the government doesn’t really want to be bring attention to it, so they don’t really mind that the cartel is doing their dirty work for them and eliminating those who speak the truth. The cartel isn’t just killing citizens but stopping them from acting out on their freedom of speech. Every Mexican person has a different opinion on how they feel about the cartel some good and some bad. Some might hate them but they can’t deny that the cartel shows them just how weak their government really is. And some may love them and respect them but they can’t deny the violence that comes with the cartel is horrifying. To be able to stop them the Mexican government must start by making a change on how they operate within. Good or bad there is always going to be a next cartel ready to take over. It’s just on controlling the violence and deaths that come with them. Cartels mostly form because the government isn’t helping the poor and this is where is government should come in and actually help the poor. Everyone only wants to see the bad but not the good. Mexican citizens only want to blame the cartel but not the government for in some way allowing for the cartel to get this powerful and have so much control over Mexico. One great man once said, “To make a change one must look in the mirror first.”-Michael Jackson.
Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office (Procuraduria General de la Republica, PGR) had issued information related to the conformation of the seven principal drug cartels present at Mexico:
Joaquin Guzman was a lieutenant of the cartel when it first came to power, and took full control in the 1990s after the arrest of the preceding leader
The Los Zetas cartel consists of some of the most deadly men in Mexico. Comprised and founded by rogue Mexican Special Ops soldiers they branched off from their former employers (The Gulf cartel) and are now fighting for their territory. Based in Matamoros the Gulf Cartel was the original heavy hitter of Mexico's cartels. Currently the Gulf Cartel is in an ongoing war with the Los Zetas. Lead by El Chapo the Sinaloa Cartel is the current leader of the drug trade in all of Mexico. The cartels are fighting the Mexican government for power over the country. Federal agents target cartels and are able to weaken them but just before the agents can take over a rival cartel comes in and takes the territory starting the whole process over again. The cartels act like a Hydra Kill one Head and two will take its
Mexico may never be able to take away the drug trade because they are much a poor country. People must chose between “silver and lead”, either making the money by selling drugs or taking a bullet to the head. Even with all the new police officers being hired, because of the previous corruption of authority, the government is trying to minimize the distribution and selling of illegal narcotics. They are still fighting to this day for a peaceful
Sub Point 1: Tessa Vinson explains the origins of The Cartel in the Spring 2009 issue of The Monitor. Chinese immigrants working on the railroads brought with them the knowledge of how to grow poppy. Poppy is a plant which contains opium which is a source for many other drugs. As the need for poppy grew in demand Sinaloens began to export it through the Pacific Railroad into the United States. The United States and Mexico became increasingly aware of this and launched "Operation Condor" on November 1975, which eliminated most poppy fields aerially. This forced many small cartels to go out of business but also eliminated competition for the more established cartels. With the supply of poppy gone most cartels shifted their attention toward Columbian cocaine. In the mid-1970s Drug lord Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo who was in charge of powerful Guadalajara cartel began to export cocaine, he became known as "El Padrino" as he eventually controlled almost all of the drug market. (Vinson, 2009, pp.
Mexico is a country rich in tradition, history and culture. Unfortunately, Mexico has not been talked about for any of those descriptions I mentioned above lately. Mexico has become a country full of death and violence. The Mexican government has been fighting a war with drug traffickers since December 2006. At the same time, drug cartels have fought each other for control of territory. More than 60,000 people have been killed (CNN). Despite the “war” launched at these multi-billion dollar organized crime groups, Mexico has not been able to stop its slide as a failed state. Almost every day there seems to be either dead bodies lying on the ground, a school closed due to vandalism, disappeared people, or bullet-riddled houses and cars. Sadly, there is not much the citizens of Mexico can do to ask for justice and change to the mess they are living in right now. So who is to blame for all of this? The Mexican drug cartels have completely taken over Mexico. They have become powerful through corruption and violence. The cartels use their power to intimidate and even murder anyone who tries to get in their way. They do not have a problem with decapitating heads in order to make a statement. The drug cartels also use their money to gain power. Given the amount of money they have, the cartels have millions of dollars invested in keeping authorities off their business. They can be very effective in bribing government officials at all levels, from border patrol just patrolling the border to state and high ranking federal officials. Given the resources they have, they can reach out and kill government officials at all levels. Since government officials are faced with bribes and or certain death, even the most unbreakable are caut...
Mexico has a long history of cartels the deaths, drugs and weapon trafficking is in all time high increasing year by year. “Mexico's gangs have flourished since the late 19th century, mostly in the north due to their proximity to towns along the U.S.-Mexico border. But it was the American appetite for cocaine in the 1970s that gave Mexican drug cartels immense power to manufacture and transport drugs across the border. Early Mexican gangs were primarily situated in border towns where prostitution, drug use, bootlegging and extortion flourished” (Wagner). They keep themselves armed and ready with gun supplies shipped from the U.S, taking control of the drug trades. The violence is spilling so out of control that they overthrew the Mexican government.
During the 1900’s through 1950’s the United States experienced an influx of immigrants coming in from Mexico seeking employment opportunities, as many of them wanted to avoid the Mexican Revolution occurring from 1910 to 1920. Methods for arriving in the United States varied for each individual’s preference of the destination, but the means of transportation had been constant throughout. These methods of transportation consisted of contractors seeking unskilled workers willing to partake in hard labor in steel, railroad, or agriculture companies. Contractors traveled to towns close to Mexico’s boarder such as Laredo or El Paso seeking Mexicans citizens for labors. In some instances, immigrants traveled on their own will based on the advice
Over the last several decades, violence has consumed and transformed Mexico. Since the rise of dozens of Mexican cartels, the Mexican government has constantly been fighting an ongoing war with these criminal organizations. The cartel organizations have a primary purpose of managing and controlling illegal drug trafficking operations in Central America and South America to the United States. Violence on a massive and brutal scale has emerged due to the nature of the illegal drug trade. Because the drug trade is vastly widespread, cartels are often fighting one another and competing in business. Mexican authorities count at least 12 major cartels, but also talk of an untold numbers of smaller splinter groups. (Taipei Times). Five cartels from Mexico have risen to become the extremely powerful amongst all the drug organizations operating in Mexico. The Guadalajara Cartel, the Sinaloa Cartel, the Tijuana Cartel, the Juarez Cartel, and the Gulf Cartel. These organizations, along with other distinguished Mexican cartels, have plagued Mexico with violence, terror, and fear due to the essence and nature of illegal drug trafficking.
The Mexican drug-trafficking cartels are said to have been established in the 1980s by a man named Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, also known as “The Godfather”. With the help of Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo and Rafael Caro Quintero, Miguel started the Guadalajara Cartel, which is one of the first to have thrived from association with the Colombian cocaine trade. The two men who helped Miguel Gallardo establish the cartel were arrested, so Gallardo, the single leader of the cartel “was smart enough to privatize the Mexican drug trade by having it run by lesser-known bosses” (The Five Most Famous Drug Cartels”), that he often met with in Acapulco. Eventually Miguel was arrested as well which caused the split of the Guadalajara Cartel into the Sinaloa Cartel and the Tijuana Cartel.
What is culture? Many people ask themselves this question every day. The more you think about it the more confusing it is. Sometimes you start leaning to a culture and then people tell you you’re wrong or they make you feel like a different person because of your culture. I go through this almost every day. Because of the way I was raised I love Mexican rodeo but I was born and raised in Joliet. This can be very difficult trying to understand culture. I live in this huge mix of culture. Culture is personal. People can have many cultures especially in America and because of globalization. Cultural identity is not one or the other, it is not Mexican or American. Cultural identity is an individual relevant thing.
Mexican Americans have quickly risen to become the majority population in the United States. The Mexican American population has grown so much due to the mass migrations they make from Mexico into the U.S. About 33.7 million Hispanics of Mexican origin reside in the U.S. as of 2012 (Pew Hispanic Center, 2013). Mexican Americans are considered the largest Hispanic origin population, making up two thirds of the whole Hispanic population to reside in the United States. As of 2010, 32 million Hispanics are Mexican American, with 11.7 million immigrants born in Mexico and 22.3 million being born in the U.S. (Pew Hispanic Center, 2013). Today, there are about 52% of Hispanics born in the U.S that have a least
The Mexican drug cartel is made up of many different cartels, but the main one is the Sinaloa cartel. The Sinaloa cartel is one of the most dangerous cartels in mexico, it is also the most optimistic cartel in mexico, they will go to high extents into their projects. The leader of the Sinaloa cartel is Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, he is believed to be one of the most powerful drug lords in the whole world. There aren’t many organizations trying to stop the cartels besides the DEA which stands for Drug Enforcement Administration. The drug cartel is all about smuggling drugs to many parts of the world but mostly the U.S. since they share borders and is the closest place to take drugs to.
Some teenagers are part of drug cartels because of poverty. With this current issue, teenagers are being killed and arrested every day for smuggling drugs and weapons across the border in the United States. Drug cartels started in 1980 led by Federal Police agent Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo also known as “The Godfather”. Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo increased his power by affiliating with the Colombian cartels in the 1980s, he hid out in his hometown with his family as his partners in crime however, his family was arrested for murdering
Lacey, M. 2010. Many critics are now making comparisons between the Mexican drug cartels, like the one mentioned above, and legitimate corporations like Netflix, or Google. There are currently seven major Mexican drug cartels. Although, the cartels may all come from different backgrounds and have different approaches towards trafficking drugs, they all share a similar business style structure to their organizations and they all have well regulated rank and file systems. These drug cartels are adapting to the loss of their much-enjoyed freedom to move illegal drugs through Mexico and across the border into the United States.