archytas's review
3.0
This book, which has been a sensation in Mexico, does exactly what it promises: it exposes the deep integration of government and the narco elite in Mexico. The book is detailed, and has a cast of hundreds of narco millionaires, and the law enforcement officials, politicians, jailers, and spies who work for them. There is general discussion about financiers, who arguably the narcos work for - including an acknowledgement that the fastest way to stop the drug trade would be to close the financial loopholes for capital to invest in it - but that is never the focus. Nor, unfortunately, is their analysis of broader social forces: the book is an evidence-based account of what is - not why it is. There is some historical content which traces the formation of the main cartels to Reagan's contra-motivated drug smuggling, and a few references to the reality that many cartel/paramilitaries are trained through the "War on Drugs" military programs (it's not ironic if it is intentional).
Given that, it is not surprising that many of the book's readers view the phenomenon through a "corruption" lens, which assumes that it is the narcos who create bad apples in the structure of government and law enforcement, whereas I could read the book and see it as reinforcement that the real power in Mexico is coming from the intersection of highly-trained soldiers and massive investment in drug production and transport, kidnapping and extortion, all of which has developed because fundamentally the wealthier parts of North America profit from the results: a terrified labour force, much of migrating and open swathe for converting villages to resource extraction wastelands.
The book was written for Mexicans and clearly deserves all the accolades. It was often hard going for this non-Mexican reader: the large cast, the absence of hand-holding regarding Mexican civil and police structures, and the avoidance of a more narrative-based analysis is joined by a thematic structure which results in constant switching between time periods and groupings, adding to the confusion. It is worth persisting through: this is a global problem, not a local one.
Given that, it is not surprising that many of the book's readers view the phenomenon through a "corruption" lens, which assumes that it is the narcos who create bad apples in the structure of government and law enforcement, whereas I could read the book and see it as reinforcement that the real power in Mexico is coming from the intersection of highly-trained soldiers and massive investment in drug production and transport, kidnapping and extortion, all of which has developed because fundamentally the wealthier parts of North America profit from the results: a terrified labour force, much of migrating and open swathe for converting villages to resource extraction wastelands.
The book was written for Mexicans and clearly deserves all the accolades. It was often hard going for this non-Mexican reader: the large cast, the absence of hand-holding regarding Mexican civil and police structures, and the avoidance of a more narrative-based analysis is joined by a thematic structure which results in constant switching between time periods and groupings, adding to the confusion. It is worth persisting through: this is a global problem, not a local one.
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