Here’s a question.
What would you say is a drug trafficker’s biggest dream?
Okay, allow me to explain myself.
We all have dreams-- you, me, politicians... and of course, drug traffickers are no exception.
Though it may be hard to believe, in the heart of the ruthless and cruel drug trafficking
industry, there are human beings with names, surnames – and in this case also nicknames
– who like anyone else, also have dreams.
So let’s go back to my question...
What’s the biggest dream a drug trafficker could have?
I mean, of course there might be many possible answers--we’re all individuals.
But unfortunately... history tells us that if most drug traffickers could make a wish,
just one wish... it’d be to turn their countries into true narco-states.
That is to say, they would turn them into states run by a kind of criminal corporation
made up of politicians, public officials, judges, the police, and the military, which,
in one way or another, were associated with drugs.
That way, drug traffickers could basically act with impunity, exporting and distributing
narcotics without restriction.
Very recently, we spoke here, on VISUALPOLITIK, about how the Bolivarian regime of Nicolás
Maduro, Diosdado Cabello and the “Cartel de los Soles” was turning Venezuela into
a narco-state.
However, in Latin America, narco-politics go far beyond Venezuela.
In this video we’ll find out a bit more about how one character was able to promote
the alliance between the narcotics industry and politicians.
Listen up.
(My best friends are in the Tugurios Community, in the municipal dump)
(NARCOPOPULISM)
We all know it: the narcotics industry is one of the most important illegal businesses.
Each year it moves several hundred billion dollars.
Now, allow me to ask another question, do you think that a cartel can survive without
political support?
Without controlling the institutions in any way?
To answer this question, let's go back to the beginning and take a look at how the most
important drug-dealers of all time managed to do it...
Because even though it’s true that in the beginning, drug traffickers started out as
little more than a band of outlaws, the time came when all of this changed...
A time... and a protagonist:
Pablo Escobar Gaviria, considered by Forbes Magazine to be one of the richest men of his
time on the entire planet.
According to Forbes, in 1987, Pablo Escobar Gaviria, had a fortune that exceeded 2 billion
dollars at the time…
And Pablo Escobar radically changed the global drug industry.
See, on the one hand, he created an entire network, a criminal holding company that included
“business” like extortion, kidnapping, hired killers and, of course, the main activity,
drug-trafficking.
All these activities were also perfectly integrated into a structure, the Medellin Cartel, which
had a clear organizational chart, a well-defined hierarchy, and even a zone-based distribution
network… each with its own managers.
Something like franchises or branches.
On the other hand, regarding his main business... drugs… this Cartel, the Medellín Cartel,
achieved an almost complete vertical integration.
That is, the Cartel took over the harvest, production, distribution and marketing of
the vast majority of its merchandise.
They did everything, took over every stage of the business.
That’s how the Medellín Cartel managed to invoice more than 7 billion dollars per
year.
Of course... none of this would’ve been possible without the complicity of the public
authorities.
( “Apparently Escobar reached the top of the cocaine cartel by astutely reinvesting
his initial earnings and becoming a PR master in Colombia [...] With his growing wealth,
Escobar bought a newspaper in Medellín, gained influence in Colombian politics and he successfully
ran for public office, becoming an alternative to the national congress.”
David Henry, Forbes Magazine 1987.)
See, for many years Pablo Escobar had impunity.
With his money and threats – the well-known phrase of silver or lead – he managed to
infiltrate the Colombian State.
He bribed the military, politicians, governors, the police... in such a way that many Colombian
institutions were under his command for a long time.
And that's not all.
Pablo Escobar also financed electoral campaigns, and to win popular support – What does a
politician do when he wants to gain popularity fast – he promoted projects such as building
houses for the nation’s poorest citizens, distributing provisions, and creating soccer
fields.
Sounds good, doesn’t it?
At first glance... a Colombian Robin Hood.
Too bad the truth was so different.
While he was carrying out this type of campaign, he had no qualms about flooding the streets
with violence and blood.
Welcome to Narcopopulism.
The case is that, as you all know...
Pablo Escobar... managed to hold a seat in the Colombian Parliament in 1982.
Until then, thanks to his “political influences” and his PR strategies, he was able to build
his empire and his huge fortune with the utmost impunity.
(AUDIO: “A member of the United States Drug Enforcement Agency once said that importing
exotic animals for his zoo caused Escobar more problems with the government than his
drug business.”
David Henry)
Now... just a second.
Don’t think that Pablo Escobar’s “political relations” were limited to Colombia, not
at all.
See… after being elected as deputy... the situation became untenable.
Some members of the media began to tell the truth hiding behind his fortune; the DEA’s
pressures multiplied, a lot of Colombian society understood the huge danger that Pablo Escobar
entailed and other cartels began to fear that the power of Medellín would grow even more.
And that's when the government began to persecute this capo... which declared war on the Colombian
state itself.
And just in case, the first thing Escobar did was leave the country, lest he be hunted.
(THE LEAP)
So Pablo Escobar put some space between himself and Colombia.
The question is, where could he find refuge?
Would his drug-money be enough to strengthen alliances?
Well… it seems so.
First of all, Panama...
At that time, the military dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega offered him asylum, protection
and a route to transport his merchandise.
Imagine, this industry was so powerful that even dictators were willing to sell their
services.
The fact is that, as you can see, Noriega also turned Panama into a narco-state, until
in 1989, a lightning invasion by the United States removed him from power...
Detained and transferred to the United States, Noriega was sentenced to 30 years in prison
for his crimes in drug-trafficking... and his relationship with the Medellin Cartel.
But... no, Pablo Escobar Gaviria’s external alliances didn’t end here.
The truth is that he didn’t feel very safe in Panama...
Let's see, yes, Noriega was a pal so to speak… but the CIA had a big presence in the country...
so when he least expected it, Noriega could be tempted to sell him out.
Because, of course, it was one thing to do business with a Panamanian dictator and quite
another to entrust him with his protection.
He needed to find a new destination.
So through the left-wing Colombian guerrilla Movement, on April 19, better known as M-19,
Pablo Escobar contacted the Nicaraguan government.
At that moment, the Sandinista Government Board, led by the country’s current president
Daniel Ortega, was willing to welcome him with open arms in exchange for a commission...
you know, for services rendered.
The agreement specified that, in addition to settling in the country with his family,
Pablo could use some of Nicaragua’s regions as a drug-distribution platform.
The problem?
Ortega and his friends were very greedy... so a few months later Pablo decided to return
to Colombia.
But of course, he maintained his business relations.
But, there’s more.
Along with Nicaragua, the M-19 guerrilla also facilitated the Medellin Cartel’s contact
with the Cuban government…
Yes, you heard that right, Cuba was also a trading platform for Pablo Escobar's businesses.
In fact, it’s known that Pablo Escobar maintained good relations with the Castro brothers.
Although, truthfully, it seems that he wasn’t the only one.
All evidence indicates that after Escobar, other drug-dealers continued to use Cuba,
through the Castros, to introduce all types of narcotics into the United States.
Anyway, Colombia, Panama, Nicaragua, Cuba...
As you can see, political power was one of the main drivers of the huge presence of drug
trafficking in Latin America.
The lack of transparency, corruption, lack of counterweights and weak institutions were
a perfect breeding ground for what over the years became one of the great nightmares of
the region.
And yes, some of you may be thinking... well, okay Simon... but in the end Pablo Escobar
fell from power.
It's true, but when a capo falls, it doesn’t mean that the industry falls… nor do their
relations with political power.
Let's take a look at Mexico.
(THE RELAY)
The main Mexican cartel with which Pablo Escobar had a relationship was the Guadalajara Cartel,
led by Ernesto Fonseca, Rafael Caro Quintero and Miguel Ángel Felix Gallardo.
This cartel had full impunity for 2 decades... all thanks to their relations with people
in power.
See, Felix Gallardo was in charge of “public relations”... and thanks to his ability
to move within the highest political spheres, this Cartel had all the stability it needed
to grow and develop.
PR is so important!
However, we’re talking about a criminal industry, and in criminal organizations stability
is very hard to achieve.
In this case, the assault on the DEA agent, Enrique Camarena, which ended his life, made
Washington demand the dismantling of this cartel... and its leaders fell one by one.
But... this didn’t end the business.
From prison, in 1989, Felix Gallardo tried to reorganize the territories... but in the
absence of an agreement the Cartel split in two:
The Tijuana Cartel led by the Arellano brothers and the Sinaloa Cartel led by Héctor Luis
Palma Salazar “El güero Palma” and Joaquín Guzmán Loera, aka “el Chapo”, who debuted
on the Forbes list in 2009 with an estimated fortune of more than 1 billion dollars.
The fact is that under el Chapo’s command, the Sinaloa Cartel became the most important
and influential cartel in Mexico and one of the most important criminal organizations
in the world.
The question that many of you may be asking is…
How did he do it?
How can one Cartel grow so much more than its adversaries?
Well, above all... because of political influences.
For example, how do you prevent the federal police from catching you and dismantling your
business?
Well... by for example finding out when those raids will happen.
Everything is based on good relations... and that’s precisely what El Chapo made sure
he’d have.
Information and “friends” are power.
And, as we’ve seen in other cases, El Chapo’s capture didn’t really change the panorama.
Today, the Sinaloa Cartel is controlled by Ismael “el Mayo” Zambada, who, over the
years, has been known to buy officials from the Special Prosecutor's Office, the Attorney
General's Office and even the Counter-Narcotics Intelligence Center, an elite army corps created
to fight narcos.
(“Obviously they don’t do these businesses alone, in many cases they have the approval
or participation of the authorities”, F.J.R researcher at the University of Guadalajara)
All in complicity with senior government officials.
Only that explains these criminal groups’ power, strength and resilience.
We’re talking about a political power with which, in many cases, narcos create a symbiosis
that is hard to distinguish.
That’s what’s happening in Venezuela with the Soles Cartel, of which we’ve already
spoken here on VISUALPOLITIK.
And watch out, because it’s estimated that the Mexican and Venezuelan cartels control
70% of all the drugs that enter the United States.
That’s what happens in countries like Guatemala, where some sources state that up to 80% of
all the white powder could be mediated by members of the national army itself; or what’s
happening in Honduras, where even the son of former President Porfirio Lobo has been
condemned in the United States for drug trafficking activities while his father, his own father,
was President of the Republic.
Anyway, folks, that’s the result of weak institutions, a lack of transparency and a
lack of counterweights.
On VISUALPOLITIK we’ll talk much more about this issue which is becoming very expensive
for many Latin American countries.
With this video we wanted to show you a few examples of how some of the great narcos “succeeded”
so well, largely thanks to their influence on established institutions.
So I really hope you enjoyed this video, please hit like if you did, and don’t forget to
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the vocals in this episode that were not mine.
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