TThe Mexican Cartel Identity: The effects of the representation of the Mexican community in the U.S
By Paola Scerdote
During the 2016 elections, Donald J. Trump in 2015 kicked off his presidential bid tweeting, "El Chapo and the Mexican drug cartels use the border unimpeded like it was a vacuum cleaner, sucking drugs and death right into the U.S.”
Trump political choice in vocabulary of Mexican drug Cartels highlights the ideology of the Mexican’s and the drug lords as a powerful collective who has become an enemy and a threat to the lives of Americans and Mexicans. The narrative of the Mexican Cartels identity has covered the world as a perfect map by the government, National security, president, news, media, and education system, covering the reality of the drug lords lifestyle. According to the Oxford dictionary, cartel is defined as a group of similar independent companies who join together to control prices and limit competition, the term reflect drug lords as working together and eliminating amongst themselves to reduce the competition. Is this the drug trafficking reality?.. Oswaldo Zavala author of “Los Carteles No Existen” Opposes the Cartel identity, “Cárteles” a las organizaciones que encabezaban estos personajes. Pero la palabra “cártel”, como prácticamente todo el vocabulario asociado al “narco”, tiene un origen oficial. Luis Astorga subraya la contradicción de referirse a los grupos de traficantes como “cárteles” a pesar de que, según la inteligencia oficial, lejos de colaborar horizontalmente para potenciar sus ganancias, los “cárteles” actúan como rivales en pugna dispuestos a eliminarse unos a otros (Zavala 11)”. Tambien afirma,“ Miguel, el “cártel de Cali”. El traficante declara: el “cártel de Cali” simplemente no existe. “Es una invención de la DEA […] Hay muchos grupos, no sólo un cártel. La policía lo sabe. También la DEA. Pero prefieren inventar un enemigo monolítico (Zavala 12)”.
"Cartels" to the organizations that led these characters. But the word "cartel", like practically all the vocabulary associated with "narco", has an official origin. Luis Astorga underlines the contradiction of referring to the groups of traffickers as “cartels” despite the fact that, according to official intelligence, far from collaborating horizontally to boost their profits, the “cartels” act as competing rivals willing to eliminate each other (Zavala 11) ”. He also states, "Miguel, the" Cali cartel ". The trafficker declares: the "Cali cartel" simply does not exist. “It is an invention of the DEA […] There are many groups, not just a cartel. The police know it. Also the DEA. But they prefer to invent a monolithic enemy (Zavala 12)”.
In 1920, drug laws where directed on Mexican American immigrants causing in 1970 for President Nixon to declare War on Drugs, constituting a cause to control the borders with the action that has divided the immigrants from the Anglo-Americans. By the cartels violence established and coming from Mexico, forbes in 2019 ranked Mexico in the top 20 most dangerous countries to live.
The Mexican Cartel Identity outlook in Media
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qe36d3sp2ocvtnf/IMG_0675.PNG?dl=0
Television shows such as “Narcos”, “El Chapo”, “La Reina Del Sur”, etc, (Image on the top) model Mexican Cartels as ranchers displaying sudden wealth from drug trafficking and wearing expensive brand shirts, animal skin boots, and sobrero as a reflection of the cartels reality. The collection of images taken from arrest of Mexican Cartels Juarez(Image on the bottom) it’s observed that reality contradicts media by the simple alternative wardrobe of the drug traffickers.
"Clips of media transition to Mexican drug cartels"
Media has played a dominant participation on society knowledge of the Mexican Cartels. News and media are regulated as a tool to manipulate the identity and understanding of a person, place, or thing. Well-known American News outlets such as Fox, CBS, CNN, Telemundo and Univision, ect. has identified Mexican cartels with the characteristics of undisciplined, vulgar, ignorant, and violent. Media perspective of Mexican drug trafficking traces back to film “Reefer Madness” propaganda to create fear of the use of marijuana, which newspapers blamed Mexico for the marijuana supply in America, that it was believed caused people to become violent and suicidal. History of News and Media provide a perspective of Mexicans cartels as the cause of drugs and violence in the U.S and Mexico, without explaining the history of what has led Latin-Americans to enter the business of drugs and the mass death in violence in urban areas.
History of the Cartel Identity in the United States
After the Mexican-American War of 1848, Mexican people lost more than just land, but the power and control over their land and identity. Ironically after 1950, the government was pulling Mexican immigrants into the U.S. with the bracero farmer program where marijuana was harvest, “braceros were generally paid very low wages, and often worked under conditions that most U.S. citizens were unwilling to accept (Loc.gov)”. In 1971“President Richard Nixon considers drug abuse “public enemy number one” and coins the term “War on Drugs” with South America (Mínehan)”. According to History, The Cartel identity was created after 1981 Drug lord Pablo Escobar with other Colombian traffickers were labeled in the news as the Medellin Cartel, after the move tonnes of cocaine into Miami. Extreme Violence in Mexico began after the creation of “CISEN in 1989, the political system gradually increased a violent militaristic strategy that culminated, as all Mexicans were able to witness in the daily horror of Ciudad Juárez, Monterrey or Tampico, with crimes against humanity committed during Felipe's presidency Calderón (Zavala 24)”. In 2006, Mexican government launches operation Baja California to fight the first Mexican recognize cartel, the Tijuana Cartel (The Arellano-Felix foundation)(Minehan). Today, U.S and Mexican media has recognized over a dozen cartel groups run by powerful drug lords such as Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman informed powerful leader of “Sinaloa Cartel” even though Newsweek declared “authorities can't seem to find a single dollar of the billions El Chapo's cartel raked in over the years”.
Oswaldo Zavala “Los Carteles No Existen”
"The Cartels Don’t Exist & Cops Drug Scandals"
Oswaldo Zavala, Mexican Professor of Latin American literature at the College of Staten Island and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York published the book “Los Carteles No Existen” indicating the Cartel identity of a group of similar independent companies who join together to control prices and limit competition does not exist. In the interview Zavala answers questions explaining his argument of the cartel identity does not exist. Zavala explains how cartels are a conspiracy, the drug lords do not work in group, they are individuals who mostly just sell drugs.
Narcocultura
Interviews: (Video) I will interview Oswaldo Zavala with the intentions to answer the questions: 1. The novel “Los Carteles no Existen” indicate that the cartel identity does not exist. Can you explain your argument? What’s the purpose of this book? 2. What is attracting the Mexican people to the cartel business today? 3. What can Latinos do to expose the identity? 4. Where do you see the future of Mexico after the Trump accusations of dangerous people?
Explain/Analyze/Respond to evidence(2-3 sentences): How it opposes the identity perspective in media of the Cartels. Also, how the identity is attracted to the mass.
Conclude/Connect (1-2 sentences): Observation of Zavala argument and how it relates to philosophy.
The Cartel Model through the perspective of philosopher Jean Baudrillard in “Simulacra and Simulation”
Top Mexican Cartels
Mexican Cartel Identity by the perspective of the government, are a group Mexican of similar independent companies who join together to control prices and limit competition. Understanding the cartels identity through the perspective of philosopher Jean Baudrillard's theory of the “hyperreality” in the book Simulacra and Simulation as "the generation by models of a real without origin or reality" the conclusion of cartel as a created group enemy to the anglo-saxon model for urban communities to reflect, is the mirror perspective by opinion of the philosophers theory. Overall, by government official the Mexican cartel’s identity are of a powerful collective who has become an enemy and a threat to the lives of Americans and Mexicans, reason for President Donald Trump to enforce a wall at the south border, but journalists who expose government corruption have shared different perspectives.
Bibliography
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