Tuesday, January 26, 2010
By Kevin Yamamura / Sacramento Bee
http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/2489099.html
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday offered yet another way California can save on incarcerating illegal immigrants: pay to build prisons in Mexico...read more
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
[Posted by Michael Felix]
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Mexico Drug Cartel Violence Soaring
Vicious cartels are battling to control the $14 billion a year illicit trade feeding an insatiable U.S. appetite for drugs. Mexican authorities are hitting the cartels with all they have.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/11/eveningnews/main4794054.shtml
[Posted By Cynthia Sanchez]
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/11/eveningnews/main4794054.shtml
[Posted By Cynthia Sanchez]
Mexican ruling party proposes banning drug ballads
By Catherine E. Shoichet / Associated Press Writer
http://www.kvia.com/Global/story.asp?S=11877561
MEXICO CITY (AP) - A new proposal from Mexico's ruling party could send musicians to prison for performing songs that glorify drug trafficking.
The law would bring prison sentences of up to three years for people who perform or produce songs or movies glamorizing criminals.
"Society sees drug ballads as nice, pleasant, inconsequential and harmless, but they are the opposite," National Action Party lawmaker Oscar Martin Arce told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The ballads, known as "narcocorridos," often describe drug trafficking and violence, and are popular among some norteno bands.
After some killings, gangs pipe narcocorridos into police radio scanners, along with threatening messages.
Martin said his party's proposal, presented before Congress on Wednesday, also takes aim at low-budget movies praising drug lords.
It was unclear when lawmakers would vote on it.
"We cannot accept it as normal. We cannot exalt these people because they themselves are distributing these materials among youths to lead them into a lifestyle where the bad guy wins," he said.
Martin said the proposal's intention is not to limit free expression, but to stop such performances from inciting crimes.
But Elijah Wald, author of the book, "Narcocorrido: A Journey into the Music of Drugs, Guns, and Guerrillas," said politicians are attempting to censor artists rather than attacking Mexico's real problems.
On his Web site, Wald has posted descriptions of dozens of past efforts to stop the songs, including radio broadcast bans and politicians' proposals.
"It is very hard to stop the drug trafficking," he said. "It is very easy to get your name in the papers by attacking famous musicians."
The norteno band Los Tigres del Norte canceled their planned appearance at an awards ceremony at a government-owned auditorium in October after organizers allegedly asked the group not to perform their latest drug ballad.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched a nationwide crackdown on drug cartels in late 2006, deploying tens of thousands of soldiers and federal police across Mexico.
Even performers who don't sing drug ballads have been caught up in recent raids.
In December Mexican authorities arrested Latin Grammy winner Ramon Ayala at a drug cartel's party in a gated community of mansions outside the central mountain town of Tepoztlan.
Ayala's attorney has said the accordionist and his band, Los Bravos del Norte, did not know their clients were suspected members of the Beltran Leyva cartel.
Greg Etter, an assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of Central Missouri, said he agrees that narcocorridos promote violence.
"It affects their view of social normality, and that's what makes it dangerous," he said.
Martin said an alleged murderer recently told police he first got involved in organized crime because he liked the songs and wanted one to be composed about him one day.
But Etter said bands have been singing narcocorridos for more than 30 years, and legislators can't stop such a strong musical tradition.
"I don't see how you could put a lid on it," he said. "Yes, these are dangerous. Music affects emotion and emotion affects actions. But if they suppress it, won't it make it even more popular?"
----
Associated Press Writer Carlos Rodriguez contributed to this report.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
**Posted by Alex Sobieski**
http://www.kvia.com/Global/story.asp?S=11877561
MEXICO CITY (AP) - A new proposal from Mexico's ruling party could send musicians to prison for performing songs that glorify drug trafficking.
The law would bring prison sentences of up to three years for people who perform or produce songs or movies glamorizing criminals.
"Society sees drug ballads as nice, pleasant, inconsequential and harmless, but they are the opposite," National Action Party lawmaker Oscar Martin Arce told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The ballads, known as "narcocorridos," often describe drug trafficking and violence, and are popular among some norteno bands.
After some killings, gangs pipe narcocorridos into police radio scanners, along with threatening messages.
Martin said his party's proposal, presented before Congress on Wednesday, also takes aim at low-budget movies praising drug lords.
It was unclear when lawmakers would vote on it.
"We cannot accept it as normal. We cannot exalt these people because they themselves are distributing these materials among youths to lead them into a lifestyle where the bad guy wins," he said.
Martin said the proposal's intention is not to limit free expression, but to stop such performances from inciting crimes.
But Elijah Wald, author of the book, "Narcocorrido: A Journey into the Music of Drugs, Guns, and Guerrillas," said politicians are attempting to censor artists rather than attacking Mexico's real problems.
On his Web site, Wald has posted descriptions of dozens of past efforts to stop the songs, including radio broadcast bans and politicians' proposals.
"It is very hard to stop the drug trafficking," he said. "It is very easy to get your name in the papers by attacking famous musicians."
The norteno band Los Tigres del Norte canceled their planned appearance at an awards ceremony at a government-owned auditorium in October after organizers allegedly asked the group not to perform their latest drug ballad.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched a nationwide crackdown on drug cartels in late 2006, deploying tens of thousands of soldiers and federal police across Mexico.
Even performers who don't sing drug ballads have been caught up in recent raids.
In December Mexican authorities arrested Latin Grammy winner Ramon Ayala at a drug cartel's party in a gated community of mansions outside the central mountain town of Tepoztlan.
Ayala's attorney has said the accordionist and his band, Los Bravos del Norte, did not know their clients were suspected members of the Beltran Leyva cartel.
Greg Etter, an assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of Central Missouri, said he agrees that narcocorridos promote violence.
"It affects their view of social normality, and that's what makes it dangerous," he said.
Martin said an alleged murderer recently told police he first got involved in organized crime because he liked the songs and wanted one to be composed about him one day.
But Etter said bands have been singing narcocorridos for more than 30 years, and legislators can't stop such a strong musical tradition.
"I don't see how you could put a lid on it," he said. "Yes, these are dangerous. Music affects emotion and emotion affects actions. But if they suppress it, won't it make it even more popular?"
----
Associated Press Writer Carlos Rodriguez contributed to this report.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
**Posted by Alex Sobieski**
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Narco Mexico
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Mexico Crime Compendium: January 18-20
COMMENT
When a radiographic map of DTO influence is examined (e.g.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/03/22/us/BORDER.html), it’s
obvious that the Sinaloa DTO remains the number 1 player among
Mexico's drug enterprises. The Sinaloa DTO has become the primary
enemy and target for other DTO’s, but remains suprisingly immune and
relatively untouched by any government initiatives or interventions.
Edgardo Buscaglia’s comments in La Jornada make this argument (http://
www.jornada.unam.mx/2010/01/14/index.php?section=politica&article=012n1pol&partner=rss).
He made similar observations in a detailed interview reported in The
Economist (http://www.economist.com/world/americas/displaystory.cfm?
story_id=15213785) and the same article includes his calculated
estimates that there have been 53, 174 drug related arrests during the
previous 6 years — with only a miniscule 941 (1.7% of the total)
affecting the Sinaloa DTO directly.
Similar argument about the “intocable” Sinaloa DTO are found and
documented throughout Ricardo Ravelo’s book Herencia Maldita
(DeBosillo, 2009).
The fact that El Chapo Guzman has been free for 9 years after his
prison escape (http://www.noroeste.com.mx/publicaciones.php?
id=549284&id_seccion=145&fecha=2010-01-19) and that Ismael “El Mayo”
Zambada and Ignacio “Nacho” Coronel Villareal remain untouched and
mysteriously anonymous also supports Edgardo Buscaglia’s
interpretation.
[Posted by Professor Montejano]
Mexico Crime Compendium: January 18-20
COMMENT
When a radiographic map of DTO influence is examined (e.g.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/03/22/us/BORDER.html), it’s
obvious that the Sinaloa DTO remains the number 1 player among
Mexico's drug enterprises. The Sinaloa DTO has become the primary
enemy and target for other DTO’s, but remains suprisingly immune and
relatively untouched by any government initiatives or interventions.
Edgardo Buscaglia’s comments in La Jornada make this argument (http://
www.jornada.unam.mx/2010/01/14/index.php?section=politica&article=012n1pol&partner=rss).
He made similar observations in a detailed interview reported in The
Economist (http://www.economist.com/world/americas/displaystory.cfm?
story_id=15213785) and the same article includes his calculated
estimates that there have been 53, 174 drug related arrests during the
previous 6 years — with only a miniscule 941 (1.7% of the total)
affecting the Sinaloa DTO directly.
Similar argument about the “intocable” Sinaloa DTO are found and
documented throughout Ricardo Ravelo’s book Herencia Maldita
(DeBosillo, 2009).
The fact that El Chapo Guzman has been free for 9 years after his
prison escape (http://www.noroeste.com.mx/publicaciones.php?
id=549284&id_seccion=145&fecha=2010-01-19) and that Ismael “El Mayo”
Zambada and Ignacio “Nacho” Coronel Villareal remain untouched and
mysteriously anonymous also supports Edgardo Buscaglia’s
interpretation.
[Posted by Professor Montejano]
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
The Fall of Mexico
Reporting by Philip Caputo; photos by Julian Cardona.
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200912/mexico-drugs
Foreign Affairs
December 2009
In the almost three years since President Felipe Calderón launched a
war on drug cartels, border towns in Mexico have turned into halls of
mirrors where no one knows who is on which side or what chance remark
could get you murdered. Some 14,000 people have been killed in that
time—the worst carnage since the Mexican Revolution—and part of the
country is effectively under martial law. Is this evidence of a
creeping coup by the military? A war between drug cartels? Between the
president and his opposition? Or just collateral damage from the (U.S.-
supported) war on drugs? Nobody knows: Mexico is where facts, like
people, simply disappear. The stakes for the U.S. are high, especially
as the prospect of a failed state on our southern border begins to
seem all too real.
by Philip Caputo
The Fall of Mexico
FOR THE FULL TEXT:
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200912/mexico-drugs
[Posted by Professor Montejano]
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200912/mexico-drugs
Foreign Affairs
December 2009
In the almost three years since President Felipe Calderón launched a
war on drug cartels, border towns in Mexico have turned into halls of
mirrors where no one knows who is on which side or what chance remark
could get you murdered. Some 14,000 people have been killed in that
time—the worst carnage since the Mexican Revolution—and part of the
country is effectively under martial law. Is this evidence of a
creeping coup by the military? A war between drug cartels? Between the
president and his opposition? Or just collateral damage from the (U.S.-
supported) war on drugs? Nobody knows: Mexico is where facts, like
people, simply disappear. The stakes for the U.S. are high, especially
as the prospect of a failed state on our southern border begins to
seem all too real.
by Philip Caputo
The Fall of Mexico
FOR THE FULL TEXT:
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200912/mexico-drugs
[Posted by Professor Montejano]
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