EL CHAPO GUZMAN

Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman one of the top drug lords, most wanted in Mexico and U.S. makes it to Forbes most powerful list.

Joaquin El Chapo Guzman is one of the top most dangerous people wanted in the United States and Mexico. It is said, “Guzman and the Sinaloa Cartel, have been blamed for much of the violence in Mexico, which ramped up when Calderon declared war in organized crime” (Fox Latino News). However, how can they blame everything that is happening in Mexico to Joaquin if he is one of the persons who made it to Forbes powerful list? Not even the president of Mexico made it to Forbes powerful list. The only reason El Chapo Guzman made it on the list is due to the fact he has much more money than the president of Mexico. All the money that El Chapo has made in his life is because of the drugs he and the Sinaloa Cartel have smuggled into the United States. Not only drugs, but also illegal activities he has been involved. It is sad to hear how drug lords could make it on Forbes most powerful list.

 

 Not only did El Chapo made it to Forbes powerful list, but also made it to the list of the most wanted in Mexico and the United States. El Chapo Guzman was once captured in Guatemala and then sent to Mexico’s number one prison called Puente Grande in Guadalajara, Jalisco. El Chapo only serve eight years in prison, because he was able to escape from the prison in a laundry truck. El Chapo did not manage to escape the prison by himself. “He allegedly was helped by the prison director and two dozen guards” (cbsnews). How does the president of Mexico want to stop violence that is occurring today, if the people who work in the government system are helping the bad people escape from prison and continue with their illegal activities? Instead of trying to make a difference in Mexico, they are making Mexico look bad. It is also said, “Top government security officials have been caught taking bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel” (cbsnews). Why do the government officials take bribes from the drug cartels? Is it because they need money to support their families or they are scared that the drug cartels might do something to their family members? There is still no facts available why do government officials help the cartels in the illegal activities that they are involved in, but the only reason why the government people might help the cartels is for protection and the safety of their families.

  

The United States has place a 5 million dollar bounty in Guzman’s head and Mexico has only offered 2 million dollars for the capture of El Chapo. It is the responsibility of Mexico to offer more money than other countries for the capture of El Chapo due to the fact that Guzman escaped from Mexico’s number one high security prison and he was born in Mexico. El Chapo started the violence in Mexico and he is one of the drug kingpins, so Mexico is the one that has to be offering more money for his capture if they want to stop some of the violence in Mexico. There might be something going on in Mexico regarding the people who work for the government and its involvement with the drug cartels. If I were the President of Mexico, I would not let other countries offer more money than what I would because the problem arose from my country and I am the one responsible to capture him and put a stop to the violence that is occurring today.

Only time would tell what it is actually going on with the government and the cartels in Mexico.

 http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/-/world/11353720/pressure-mounts-on-top-mexico-drug-boss/

 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/01/18/world/main7258730.shtml

 http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_17122941

 http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/11/02/mexican-drug-lord-on-list-most-powerful-people-calderon-not/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6X1nFa53uQ

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okLVWbAhioY&feature=related

Mexico and its Multi-Party System.

Political parties are targets of drug cartels in Mexico…..

Imagine campaigners of ranked political officials aiding those who are running for governor pass fliers, just trying to get as many votes as they can to win the presidential elections. Political campaigners have become easy targets of the Mexican Cartels. November 2, 2011 was a devastating day for Ricardo Guzman and his family. Sadly, a fleet of alleged drug cartel members gunned down Mr. Guzman. Ricardo Guzman was the mayor of La Piedad, Michoacán. His goal was to help Felipe Calderon’s sister Luisa Maria Calderon in recruiting people to vote for her. Guzman was helping her because he belonged to the National Action Party (PAN), in which president Felipe Calderon resides too. As you can see, elections in Mexico are not escaping the violence of the drug cartels. The cartels are not respecting the people who might make a difference for the future in Mexico.

Elections have become a target for the cartels. It is said “there is fear that violence can spark the November 13, 2011 elections in Michoacán,” in The Kansas City Star article. Electioneers are scared in risking their lives in the hands of the cartels. They do not want to end up like Mayor Guzman. Federal prosecutors in Mexico are offering 5 million pesos or 370,000 U.S. dollars for information leading to the capture of the killers. I believe people are not going to put their own lives or family lives in risk of the cartels for giving out information of the ones responsible for the crime. It is difficult for people in Mexico to even talk about the drug cartels because of people who you can or you cannot trust. There is no such thing as trust in Mexico anymore or even friends. Before Guzman was killed, it had been said, “Guzman had received threats from organized crime groups”(Kansas City Star). Guzman knew something was going to happen to him since the previous threats he had received were from the same organized crime groups.

Elections have brought many controversies among the different election groups. There are three basic election groups, which are (PRD), (PRI), and (PAN). Graham mentions in his article, “Mexican President Felipe Calderon has said politicians in the main opposition party may consider deals with criminals, opening an inflammatory new front in the nation's presidential election campaign.” This means the opposition parties might get involved with the organized crime groups and get into an agreement that would stop the violence occurring in Mexico. Graham states “PRI opponents and the political analysts have accused the once dominant party of making several deals with drug cartels in the past to keep the peace in Mexico.” Meaning there was hardly any violence in Mexico while the (PRI) party was in charge because they had some treaties going between the cartels and the (PRI) party. There was something going on between the cartels and the PRI party members because “PRI dominated Mexico for seven decades until PAN won in 2000” (Graham). Since the PRI lost the election in 2000, the cartels might have lost the protection of the PRI government. The cartels felt security from the PRI party; this is why violence in Mexico was not seen as much as today. Ever since the PAN party took over presidency, the violence went up high. The PAN party did not want anything to do with the drug cartels, which this made the cartels upset and they started killing innocent people as a message to the PAN party. Essentially Mexico was a one party system where the only party was the PRI during this so called PRI dominated era. Just recently, Mexico has become more democratic giving other political parties some legitimacy by being able to be elected to political posotions.

The violence that has erupted from the political turmoil has led to the killing of more than 40,000 innocent people in Mexico. The PRI party is to be blamed because the PRI party government had something going on with the cartels. This violence had not been seen since the PRI party ran the government for the past seven decades.

The government agencies in Mexico should be the ones to blame. Sooner or later the truth is going to come out. This will make Mexico an accomplice tie with all of the illegal activities that the PRI party was involved in before the PAN party took over. When the killings, crimes, and violence started to arise, I always had a feeling that there might have been something going on with the government and the cartels.

Today, the government does not protect or have any treaties with the cartels. The cartels are retaliating by killing people and then make it seem the president of Mexico,  Felipe Calderon and the PAN party members as the bad people. In which they are the ones that want to make a positive change in Mexico. They do not want to have anything to do with the cartels or any corruption that the other political party that might have been involved.

Felipe Calderon and the PAN political party might have been one big mistake when they came into power among the political parties, but they are the ones trying to make a better future for Mexico.      

 http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/17/us-mexico-drugs-idUSTRE79G0B420111017

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/11/04/3247911/mexican-mayors-killing-sparks.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/03/ricardo-guzman-gunned-down_n_1073970.html

"Los Zetas" One of the most dangerous cartels.

Five "Zetas" arrested for deadly attack in the Monterrey Casino in Mexico that left 52 people dead.

When Los Zetas decided to do this terrorist attack in the Monterrey Casino, they might have seen it as an accomplished mission because they did send a message to the President. The message was that they killed 52 people who were inside the casino when they sprayed a lethal dosage of gasoline. All of those innocent people could not escape the building because of the giant flames that were blocking all the exits. Felipe Calderon mentioned in one of the articles, "The Monterrey Casino attack is seen as the most serious attack in the civil society that the country has seen in a long time." I agree with the President because people who died in the attack were innocent people who did not have anything to do with the drug cartels. The cartels are targeting big businesses were they can hit the government where it hurts. The Monterrey Casino is a place where many tourists visit and spend a good time gambling their money in the different games that the place offers. It is a big casino that is surrounded by big hotels that offer tourists comfortable rooms were they can spend the night and be well protected by the security that the hotel's offer. This casino is very popular because of the vast number of tourists that visit and spend a great deal of time with the people that they go with, not to mention the amount of money they all invest on the poker tables alone!

Los Zetas are one of the most dangerous cartels in Mexico City. Their special techniques include assassinations, extortion, and kidnappings. Some of the assassinations include the decapitating of the heads of their victims. This can be seen as the most defying and crude technique because of the inhumane beheading of their victims. Los Zetas cut off their victims heads and they take the heads with them and they drop them off to the family members or leave the heads in a public place were the people could see them with a note. The note that this infamous drug cartel leaves behind represents their name and information to the government or civilians saying that if they get in their way, this are the consequences. The consequences are decapitation or killing of their victims. The only problem about the killings in the Monterrey Casino is that Los Zetas did not leave any note behind. The only thing that one of the suspects left behind was his fingerprints in one of the vehicles that he used during the attack. By leaving his fingerprints, state officials were able to arrest four other suspects that were involved in the burning of the casino. In a Borderland Beat article, it is mentioned, "Los Zetas were extorting money from the owner of the casino." The owner did not want to pay any more money to Los Zetas cartel. The cartel struck back with the burning of the casino. After this horrifying attack in the Monterrey Casino, among the victims who died were 35 women and 10 men, but not counting the rest of the bodies, which is what the CNN news article mentioned. Other officers were saying that there was a probability that there were 53 people killed because one of the women who died was pregnant.

Innocent victims are still dying in Mexico City today. When business owners do not want to corporate with the drug cartels, innocent people have to die so that they can send their message to other people around the country that the drug cartels are not to play with. They do not play any games. They do whatever it takes to get the money that they are demanding.

As we can see, only five of the suspects that participated in the casino burning where captured. Even by their capturing, the suspects plea will not make a difference in Mexico because Los Zetas drug cartel have thousands of people working for them. It obviously took more than five people to burn the casino as the Youtube video that I posted shows. Capturing the suspects can be seen as an accomplishment for the police officers in Monterrey Mexico, but what about the families that lost their brother, sister, or relative in the casino? Who is going to bring them back to them and give them justice? The only thing left behind is the suffering and pain of their love ones who died in the attack.

What the president of Mexico should do is form some kind of a treaty with the president of the United States. The treaty should be that they should help out each other to stop the killings of innocent people near the borders and in Mexico City. The Mexican Army and the U.S. Army should join together so they can stop the fighting among the cartels. By putting a stop to the cartels, innocent people will not die and Mexico will gain a new respect in the international community.

 http://articles.cnn.com/2011-08-26/world/mexico.attack_1_fiery-attack-death-toll-casino-thursday-morning?_s=PM:WORLD

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2011/08/five-zetas-arrested-for-deadly.html

 http://www.hamptoninn.com/en/hp/hotels/index.jhtml?ctyhocn=MTYGAHX&WT.srch=1&searchdef=2142883&k_clickid=4a336b81-3401-9689-72e1-000001a2bf34&002=002%3D2142883%26021%3D697326&006=6994490333&007=Search&008=&009=b&011={QueryString}&012=hotel%20monterrey%20mexico

 http://insightcrime.org/criminal-groups/mexico/zetas

Here are some interesting videos of Los Zetas.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb4fXpBibEs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6gvzSmpIZM

Deaths in Mexico still adding up.

There were 35 dead bodies dumped in a highway near the biggest shopping mall in Veracruz, Mexico.  

People who witnessed this horrific incident said "they saw the two trucks stop and people started to drop the bodies on the ground." They also reported "there were gunmen pointing their guns at them, so that they could not interfere with what they were doing." The people had to wait in their cars and just watch as the dead bodies were dumped in the street. As the police arrived, the men who dumped the dead bodies had disappeared. The police identified seven of the bodies. The bodies who were identified had records of drug dealing, murder, extortion, and kidnapping. There were twelve women among the dead bodies. This left a horrible image of what Mexico is becoming.

The killings in Mexico are never going to stop. The drug cartels are dumping dead bodies of people in the streets as if they were not humans. The drug cartels do not care about who or what they kill. They only care about the money and their drugs. Mexican citizens are the last ones to cross their minds. It seems as if the drug cartels only think about themselves and they do not have any sympathy toward their own people. The drug cartels treat people like cans for target practice. When they kill their victims or whoever they want to kill, they dump the dead bodies in the trash or in the streets. The drug cartels do not have any sympathy toward the families of the ones they killed. Bodies of dead people have to be treated with respect, but the drug cartels treat the dead bodies like trash. I say trash because trash can be seen all over the freeway, streets, and parks. The bodies of this people were seen in the freeway.

Even though the dead bodies were identified as drug dealers, murders, or kidnappers, this should not be a way of dealing with those people. By killing them and dumping the dead bodies in a freeway will not look good for Mexico. By doing this, it would make people think the worst of Mexico. Mexico has laws which deal with people who are drug dealers, kidnappers, and murderers. The drug cartels have to let the Mexican government take care of the cruel people. Drug cartels cannot take matter into their own hands. Drug cartels are making Mexico get a bad reputation among the other countries. The tourists reading all this about what is happening around Mexico will not want to visit Mexico. Mexico would probably be their last resort because of risking their lives among the drug cartels.

The number of people killed in Mexico keeps adding up. Both the articles quote in this blog "the number of killings range from 35,000 to 40,000 up to today."  When will all of these killings stop? The Mexican government has to do something quick because these killings are creating a cruel reputation for Mexico.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMsQzr9jlkgh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDipKnsK7U0&feature=related

The youtube videos give pictures of how the highway was left with blood stains of the dead bodies and the president of Veracruz giving a speech of what happened that day.       

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2039937/Mexican-drug-lords-dump-35-dead-bodies-road-wave-guns-passing-drivers.html

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/09/21/mexico-gunmen-dump-35-bodies-on-avenue/

Drug Cartels

Crackdown on Drug Cartels has been One Big Mistake

Ever since Felipe Calderon the president of Mexico launched his crackdown on the drug cartels, "Thousands of people have been killed” (2011). The scale of violence in Mexico has increased ever since the President decided to crackdown on drug cartels in Mexico. The database has shown that 34,612 people have been killed since 2006. The deaths include suspected drug gang members, members of security forces, and innocent bystanders. It has been estimated that 40,000 people have died during these past five years. “The war on drug cartels in Mexico has not been beneficial to the average Mexican citizen. In fact it has been the opposite. The war in drug cartels has created a violent and unstable environment to live in.”  

Another issue about this conflict in particular is that this is not happening just in one town in Mexico, it is occurring all over Mexico. The violence among the cartels is concentrated on the northern border regions. Some of the areas include Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Michoacán, and Guerrero. The city suffering the most in this crackdown of cartels is Ciudad, Juarez. It has been said, that in 2010, more than 3,100 people were killed in Juarez. This is bad for Mexico. Tourists who hear about these deaths will not want to visit Mexico and the revenue from tourism will decrease at an alarming rate.

The worst part of the high death toll in Juarez is the interaction of the Mexican and US governments and the drug cartels throughout Latin American region. In an article called Narco News, it mentions “The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) granted immunity in 2004 to the leaders of the Sinaloa cartel, Joaquin “EL CHAPO GUZMAN,” and Ismael “EL MAYO” Zambada, in exchange for information about rival Drug Cartels, according to new testimony from Jesus Vicente Zambada Niebla.”  This can be a true fact because most of the weapons confiscated from the drug cartels in Mexico trace back to the United States. The high caliber automatic rifles, bazookas, grenades, and ak-47’s are from the U.S. weapon collection. Zambada also mentioned information about the Fast and Furious operation. The Fast and Furious operation “that allegedly allowed some 2,000 guns to be smuggled across the US/Mexican border under ATF’s watch” (Narconews). As a result of the smuggling of this weapons lead to the killing of “three thousand people” in Mexico, “including law enforcement officers in the state of Sinaloa, Mexico, headquarters of the Sinaloa Cartel” (Narconews). We have evidence that shows that both governments are involved with the cartels that have led to the killings of innocent people.

 When the Mexican government declared a war on the drug cartels, the Mexican government was not just disrupting criminal activating. By declaring war in drug cartels, the Mexican government has created a violent and unstable society that has disrupted the life of the everyday Mexican citizen. People could be living their normal life; tourists would be happy to visit Mexico. The lives of Mexican citizens have changed from a content lifestyle to a violent one ever since the drug cartel war arose. Instead of remembering Mexico of its nice historic cities, now it is going to be remembered as one of the most violent cities with more human deaths than the war in Iraq.

Mexico would never be the same...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfJH5_5i3qQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFDVV1YxKuI&feature=relmfu

http://www.mexico.vg/tag/mexicos-drug-cartels

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-10681249

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/bill-conroy/2011/07/us-court-documents-claim-sinaloa-cartel-protected-us-government