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Robert Almonte, a retired Deputy Chief of the El Paso Police Department, spent most of his career investigating Mexican drug dealers and the Mexican drug trade.  During his research, he began to encounter many of the same saints displayed in the stash homes, in vehicles and even on Mexican drug dealers.  Almonte came to learn that these saints are being used as protection against law enforcement officials.

The most common saints:

La Virgen de Guadalupe: Patron Saint of forgiveness for past crimes

Torimo Romo: rescued migrants in the desert

Santo Nino de Atocha: the boy pilgrim, patron saint of prisoners and travelers

St. Jude: Patron Saint of lost causes-helps to get through difficult situations (like trafficking drugs)

St. Ramone: Patron Saint of secrets and silence.  Drug traffickers will tape a penny over St. Ramone’s mouth to keep their deals a secret.

Jesus Malverde: Angel of Poor, Mexican Robin Hood

San Simone: from Guatemala, gaining popularity in Mexico-Patron Saint of undocumented immigrants as well as Patron Saint of Gamblers and Drunkards

Juan Soldado: Patron Saint of illegal aliens.

The most famous: La Santa Muerte (Saint Death): La Santa Muerte is not canonized by the Catholic Church, in fact, she is not even recognized by the Catholic Church.  La Santa Muerte is a skeleton dressed similar to the Virgen Mary.  Whereas the Virgen Mary only listens to the wealthy and well-off, it is believed by many Mexicans that La Santa Muerte hears prayers from the poor and criminal-minded.  La Santa Muerte is usually seen wearing three colors: red=love, white=good luck, and black=protection.  La Santa Muerte has recently become associated with violence in Mexico, where drug dealers will execute people and offer their heads to La Santa Muerte.  Violence linked to Saint Death has not been seen yet in the United States.

These saints are usually seen as images on candles with prayers on them.  The other most common way these idols are displayed are on small cards that can be kept in a wallet or displayed on the dashboard of a vehicle.  Besides the saints, another common card is the Mano Poderosa-which is the image of Jesus’ hand with a religious figure on each of His fingers.  Mexican drug traffickers carry this around to literally have God’s hand protecting them from law enforcement.  Pendants of the saints worn around the necks of drug traffickers are incredibly common as well.

Many Mexican drug dealers and traffickers also believe in brujas (witches) and curanderos (healers).  Brujas are used to make hexes against particular narcotics officers.  Curanderos are known to prepare medicines from herbs and plants.  They also lead their followers in prayer and perform a “limpia” where they used a branch to “clean” the drug trafficker.

Many Mexicans are now becoming involved in Santeria, which is the combination of African Gods and Catholicism.  The drug traffickers want as much good luck as they can get, so they are trying this religion that is popular in Cuba and the Caribbean.

Other commonly seen idols among Mexican drug traffickers are: Tweety Bird-who in cartoons always seems to escape Sylvester, and Scarface.

Many drug traffickers have more than one idol, believing that “more is better.”  Besides just praying to these idols, drug traffickers have gotten creative.  In Kentucky, pounds and pounds of marijuana were found being transported in a four-foot statue of St. Jude.

Narcotics officers now have an extra clue to look for when searching a suspected stash house or when pulling over a suspicious driver.  As more law enforcement agents learn about the Patron Saints of the Mexican Drug Underworld, one can’t help but wonder, who’s side are the saints on?

When I was 16, I got the opportunity of a lifetime-I got to travel to Guatemala City with 7 other youth from my church to do mission work at our sister church, Cristo Nuestr0 Paz (Christ Our Peace).  We stayed in a convent in Zone 2 of Guatemala City and took a bus everyday to Zone 18, where our sister church is.  There are 21 zones in Guatemala City.  1-4 are where the wealthiest live and the government buildings are.  The higher the zone number, the poorer the area.  So essentially, Zone 18 is the 4th poorest in all of Guatemala City. 

The convent we stayed at in Zone 2 was very nice.  It even had a pool with a slide!  Only one of the nuns spoke English, but they all tried very hard to keep us fed and comfortable.  They made money to support their convent by educating young girls.  Although the nuns did not wear the traditional habits we see in movies, they were always fully clothed in long dresses and usually had some sort of long fabric covering their hair.  It was funny to sit in a room full of pictures of saints while the nuns hovered around the television cheering on the Guatemalan soccer team!

Zone 18 was quite different from the business buildings and McDonalds we had seen in Zone 2.  The church was over a century old.  Connected to the church was Padre Pedro’s house.  Padre Pedro was the only priest at Cristo Nuestro Paz, and he and his adult son, Mario, were seen as local heros and were known by everyone in Zone 18.  On the other side of the church was a combined medical and dental clinic.  After a quick tour, it was obvious that they were far behind us when it came to technology.  The medical center was just being introduced to computers-old, bulky things I had not seen since kindergarten.  Up the hill from the church was the two-room grade school.  The children were delighted to see us, and performed a song and dance for us.  I couldn’t help but notice how clean the kids were, after seeing all those Christian Foundation commercials back home, I was expecting everyone to be sick and dirty looking.

A tour of the rest of Zone 18 proved how poor this area is and how much they needed our help.  Houses were one- roomed tin huts.  Most homes have one bed the entire family shares made of wood, with one lightbulb dangling from the rusty roof.  One corner of the house was usually a shrine to the Virgin Mary with religious icons and candles.  Most of the land in Zone 18 is owned by wealthy businessmen that live in Zones 1-4 who charge exorbitant rent.   The water is polluted from the locals bathing and doing laundry in the river. 

Violence and prostitution are two huge problems in Zone 18, our “gringo” group was always led and followed by at least two locals for our protection.  We met a mother of two of the children families at our church sponsor to send to school.  Her husband had been murdered so to make ends meet she made and sold tortillas all day, and worked in a sweatshop at night.  She said the sweatshop was tedious work for little pay, but it was the only option she had.

After seeing how terrible the living conditions were here, I was surprised how hopeful everyone was.  It was also obvious how important religion was in their lives.  They prayed more than anybody I had ever known before.  They prayed before all meals, prayed in the morning, and at the end of all our visits, they prayed for our protection. 

With the majority of their population being under age 18, the inhabitants of Zone 18 are hopeful of change.  Padre Pedro visits the grade school and guarderia (daycare) kids regularly.  He preaches about Jesus and miracles, hoping that the youth will have faith to work for change in their poor neighborhood.

For more information on how St. Paul Parish helps Cristo Nuestro Paz: http://www.stpaulgenesee.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=34:christ-our-peace-parish-guatemala&catid=7:sister-parishes&Itemid=9

       Raices do Brasil/Roots of Brazil Capoeira Madison is one of several schools in the United States that is spreading the popularity of this rythmic and active Afro-Brazilian art form. Capoeira is sprung from the sugar cane plantations and culture of African slaves in Brazil. One reason for its popularity today in Brazil and other terminals of the African diaspora is the fact that it was an illicit practice only practiced in secret during the slave era.

         Director/Instructor Dominic Stryker — also known as Professor Sabidinha — and four students of the school explained and demonstrated capoeira at an appearance on the UW-Whitewater campus on Oct. 26. Their visit was sponsored by a grant from the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at UW-Milwaukee.   

          Better than any written explanation could ever do, the demonstration displayed the complex give-and-take of the movements between the two weaving, kicking, and twirling participants in the middle of the roda, or circle. A video of the presentation is available here  as a movie download from itunesU site for UW–Whitewater. The authentic instruments, including the bowstring-and-gourd berimbao, also provided the live sensation of the rythmic heart to the action.

          Instructor and director Dominic explained that different people are attracted to capoeira for one of its many facets, such as its roots in Afro-Brazilian nationalism or the martial arts feel. But since all participants share in all the drumming, singing, and moving that involves capoeira, they eventually embrace the other aspects as well.

High priest figure

In part because of the ties linking New York City to the Caribbean, the New York Times periodically covers the influence that the African-influenced religion called Santeria wields both in New York and in the Caribbean, in particular Cuba.

This story from about a decade ago is a good example, and offers a good overview of the religion and its history:

By LIZETTE ALVAREZ

Published: Monday, January 27, 1997

The recreation room is thick with cigar smoke by late afternoon. Three drummers frantically pound sacred drums, enticing worshipers to crowd around and step to the pulse. A singer chants insults in an African language, hoping to anger the santos, or deities, into appearing.

 

Suddenly, a woman draped in white shudders violently. Her eyes glaze, then roll back into her head. She reaches for her forehead as if to soothe it, all the while twirling low to the ground, round and round, massaging the intricate rhythms of the drums. Yemaya, the deity who symbolizes the sea and masquerades as the Virgin Mary, has finally come into the room. Yemaya has possessed her.

Read the entire article here.

Rev.  Rafael Rodriguez is pastor at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Whitewater and a native of Venezuela. After obtaining a law degree in Venezuela, Rev. Rodriguez came to Milwaukee to become a priest. After his ordination he first served as associate pastor in West Bend, Wisc. before coming to Whitewater

In a presentation Oct. 21 at UW–Whitewater, Rev. Rodriguez discussed the importance in Latin America and the Catholic Church of the reforms carried out in the 1960s. The reforms were initiated by the Vatican II Conference presided over in Rome by Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI from 1962 to 1965.  Figuratively, the idea of Vatican II was to “open the doors and windows of the church to let in fresh air”.  A number of reforms sought to make religious life more accessible through such things as sermons in the language of the church’s location rather than in Latin, and welcoming more work by lay members.

In Latin America at a conference of bishops in Medellin, Colombia in 1968 the ideas of  Vatican II inspired church members to focus Latin America’s Catholic Church on social problems of poverty and oppression. This was an innovation in Catholicism offered by Latin Americans that came to be called Liberation Theology. lOne outcome of this was that ay members took the initiative in a burgeoning of what are called Christian Base Communities in poor areas.

With the arrival of Pope John Paul II in 1978 the emphasis of the church shifted to liberating the world, especially those Catholics in his native Poland, from communism. Conversely, the Papacy discouraged Liberation Theology and social activism that often resembled, or openly embraced, Marxism.

Then, and now, Rev. Rodriguez said, the church exists within political movements and struggles. He cited the case of Honduras, where the current Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga supported the ouster of  left-leaning President Manuel Zelaya this past summer.

“Astounded” is the word I would use to describe my common reaction to reading the essays by Mexican native Alma Guillermoprieto in the New Yorker magazine. A single paragraph sometimes would give me pause. I’d put the magazine down and just shake my head at the talent there.

The talent with English, the honesty, the cultured manner of letting her own personality direct the topics and prose, are all in full display in the books and essays by Ms. Guillermoprieto. I look forward to seeing how she handles the genre of the “talk”, since she is visiting UW-Whitewater this evening to discuss “How to Be a Mexican” at 7 p.m. in Young Auditorium.

Here is more praise from the announcement of her visit by the sponsoring College of Letters and Sciences:

Guillermoprieto is considered an authority on how life in Mexico and South America relate culturally to the United States as she was born in Mexico and grew up in both Mexico and the U.S. She has devoted 30 years to the study of Latin American history and has related it to her own life in her two books, “Looking for History” and “The Heart That Bleeds.” In 2000, Guillermoprieto was awarded the George Polk Award for Foreign Reporting, one of the most coveted awards in journalism, by Long Island University.

One of the most visible of the Mexican drug cartels now at war in that country is called La Familia Michoacana. 

The “family” is one of at least seven cartels spread across the republic. NPR provides a useful map to locate them.

“La familia” has influenced the political life inMichoacan.  10 mayors and 20 other officials wee held in relation to this.  los Angelos Times provides an article discussing how the political life has been corrupted along with a picture showing Rafael “El Cede” Cedeno Hernandez along with others being arrested.

For those who know spanish here is a video capturing  Rafael “El Cede’s” Cedano Hernandez arrest.

La Familia Michoacana

                                                By: Michelle Alvarado

La Familia Michoacana is a newly formed Mexican drug cartel group formed in the west-central part of the state in Mexico, Michoacana according to Corey Flintoff’s A Look at Mexico’s Drug cartel.[1]  The “Family” is suspected to have begun around 2004.  They had a goal according to the article Mexico’s Drug War of “eradicating the trafficking of crystal methamphetamine, or “ice”, and other narcotics, kidnapping, extortion, murder-for-hire, highway assaults, and robberies”.  Originally the group was portrayed as an organization fighting against drugs.  To make their family name known “The family” was responsible for entering a dance club and throwing five severed human heads on the floor of the night club in the town of Uruapan.  This group is very powerful and dangerous that they have lately even been involved with political corruption of this south central state.  Even though the alleged leader of La Familia Michoacana, Alberto Espinoza Barron, (AKA “La Fresa”), was arrested last year the group still remained strong and powerful.  Recently in late April Rafeal “El Cede” Cedeno Hernandez was arrested for his involvement in La Familia.  “El Cede’s” brother Daniel soon after stepped down from federal deputy candidate in the congressional election, which a small Mexico Green Ecological Party had nominated him. In reality it was less of a political organization than a corrupt family enterprise.  However, corruption just doesn’t stop there.  According to the Los Angeles Times [2] in late May the political corruption of La Familia became very clear.  Ten mayors and twenty other local officials were detained as part of a drug investigation.  George Grayson who wrote La Familia Michoacana: Deadly Mexican Cartel Revisited, [3] back in July that the “Family” “ambushed units of armed forces and federal police in eight cities, beginning at Michoacana’s colonial capital, Morelia”. The family used high powered rifles and grenades against its enemies in Guerro and Guadalajara states.  They are upset about their leaders being taken out, that on July 13^th along the Morelia-Lazaro Cardenas highway the “Family” executed twelve federal officers and left them in a pile alongside the road reading “Vengan por otro, los estamos esperando” or in English “come for another (of our leaders), we are waiting for you”.  The cartel is now moving from its Mexico’s market into the US markets like Atlanta, Dallas and Los Angeles.  Underneath the trailers of fruits and vegetable lays drugs and weapons being imported into the United States.  The law enforcement agencies from both coasts have very little to no experience with “La Familia”.  Military intervention is obviously necessary, but more than just this action needs to be done to stop the drugs from entering into the United States.  Many will agree that cleaning house is needed.  If you get rid of the corrupt politicians and government official, this will remove “La Familia” from being above the law.

[2] Turner, La Familia Michoacana, 2009.

http://agonist.org/nathan_wilcox/20090601/la_familia_michoacana        

[3] Grayson, La Familia Michoacana: Deadly Mexican Cartel Revisited.

http://www.fpri.org/enotes/200908.grayson.lafamiliamihoacana.html

 Recently, Mexico has been in the news quite often because of its war on drugs or the “Mexican Civil War II”.  For as long as anyone can remember there have been drugs present in Mexico; however, in our modern day, the drug industry has exploded.  Due to the drug industry booming, there has been turmoil between various drug cartels leading to many deaths of innocent people.  Many people, not only Mexican, have suffered from the violence of this drug war.  Mexican drug cartels are all over the United States, which is negatively impacting our country because of their extreme violence and murderous acts.   Many young American’s have become involved in the Mexican cartels and most of them voluntarily.  One specific example on BBC news is about a young man, 20 year old Rosalio Reta of Texas, now in prison, became involved with the Mexican drug industry by the age of 13.

 “I thought it was cool. Got involved. That’s how everything started. There’s no way out once you get in.” comments Reta on why he became involved in this Mexican drug cartel. 

This is an excellent example of how the Mexican Drug War is negatively affecting the United States.  They have come into the US and not only have they brought drugs in with them, they are giving more opportunity for our youth to become involved in drugs, crime, and even in the cartels themselves. 

Seperation and Location of Drug Cartels in the US and Mexico

In my opinion, the Mexican cartels all over the world have become similar to the way gangs act in the United States.  They are not working together as an alliance, more so they are working against each other with the severe violence and hatred. 

“Inter- and intra-cartel violence is responsible for the vast majority of the drug-related murders in the country.”

This quote comes from an article in the New York Times, “Drug Wars: When a ‘Cartel’ Really Isn’t”.   It enforces the reasoning behind my idea of referring to the drug cartels as gangs.  The cartels in the United States and in Mexico that are involved in the Mexican Drug war or the “Mexican Civil War II” would rather fight and work against each other, than work as cartels as they have done in the past.  This change in working as a cartel is the main reason this has became a war on drugs which has spread all over the world.

Mexican drug cartels are spreading, and have found a new location in West Africa.  By having a location in West Africa, they have a greater connection to the European drug scene.  One reason they would like to have involvement in Europe is because of the currency exchange rate.  Drug cartels have caused an immense crisis in their new location and officials and military personnel are finding it hard to keep under control. 

As of now we only see the effects of the drug war spreading and becoming worse, we can only hope that things will soon become tranquil in Mexico for the well being of innocent citizens.

 Drugs have been present in Mexico, the United States, and the rest of the world for a long time.  Just recently, within the past 15 years, has the annual income from illicit drug sales risen for some countries, like Mexico.  Mexico has been a big drug trafficking country for some time but has become more powerful since the downfall of the drug cartels in Colombia. Recently it has been in the news for the violence it has brought upon the public. The need for power and money have taken control of the drug cartels in Mexico.     

Mexican drug cartels in the United States

                 In February 2006, according to Mexico’s deputy general for organized crime, Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, an estimated 8.3 to 24.9 billion dollars are smuggled into Mexico from illicit drug sales.  But where is this money coming from? Much of this illegal income comes straight from the United States.  Marijuana has always been Mexico’s biggest drug export, but recently, with more and more Colombian cocaine being cut off in Florida, distribution of this drug by Mexican cartels has grown greatly. Not only do Mexican drug cartels operate in Mexico, but also have many smaller organizations within United States boundaries.  For many years Mexico has grown Marijuana within the United States in places like California, but recently have been expanding to other places in the east.  Above is a picture of where Mexican Cartels are believed to be present in the United States today.

                Much of the money smuggled into Mexico belongs to the major Mexican cartels such as the Gulf Cartel and the Federation.  The Gulf cartel, which is operated by one of the most powerful crime organizations, the zetas, is probably one of the most powerful cartels in all of Mexico.  Although the Mexican government  has arrested over 90,000 people on drug charges this decade,  these crime organizations continue to grow at an increasingly rapid rate.   With these cartels growing, the amount of violence in Mexico as well as the United States has increased greatly.  According to Alex Sánchez a COHA researcher, “In 2006, over 4,000 were killed in Mexico in drug-related violence.”  This number is still increasing each year.  Many times, cartels use murder as a warning sign for the police or as retaliation for one of their leaders being arrested.  They have said they won’t stop killing, unless they get what they want.

Mexican drug cartels have been present for a long time, but recently have been expanding into other countries such as the United States.  Unless something is done by a more powerful government, Mexican cartels are going to continue to grow and create more violence.

Since Felipe Calderón (PAN-conservative National Action Party) came into office in 2006, drug related violence is at an all time high in Mexico’s drug war.  Calderón comes from the state of Michoacán, where drug-related violence is particularly evident.  The war is based on the increasing power of cartels (mafias), weak local authorities, distrust for the government, overall corruption, and worldwide drug consumer markets.  According to an article, “Mexican cartels gained their dominance in drug trafficking in the mid-1980s, when U.S. drug agents and the Colombian government cracked down on Colombian cartels and drug routes through the Caribbean. The vast majority of cocaine headed to the U.S. started going through Mexico.”

Distrust for the government relates to Mexico’s unstable political past where local militant leaders, or caudillos, took control; cartel leaders could be seen as modern-day caudillos.  Cartels have become powerful as they offer protection, jobs, and support filling a void where the government has marginalized so many citizens living in sub-standard, impoverished conditions.  Cartels also gain control through fear by utilizing extortion, money laundering, and violence, including torture and kidnapping, in addition to having expert military connections and access to weapons through the trafficking of arms.  Some of the most dominant cartels include the Sinaloa Cartel, the Zetas (Gulf Cartel), and La Familia, which has ties to the Zetas.  As mentioned in an article, “the Zetas act as assassins for the Gulf cartel. They also traffic arms, kidnap, and collect payments for the cartel on its drug routes.”  The drug cartels often have more control than local authorities; such is the image portrayed by an article which states, “Cadillac Escalades and Lincoln Navigators with low tires and chrome rims patrol the streets of Zitacuaro, even as trucks of army troops roll past.”

In order to combat corruption within the government, “President Calderón purged 284 federal police commanders, including federal commanders of all 31 states and the federal district. These commanders were suspended and subjected to drug and polygraph tests. The Mexican government immediately named replacements for the 284 dismissed commanders. The new commanders all successfully passed an array of examinations designed to weed out corrupt officers, including financial checks, drug testing, and psychological and medical screening. These tests are to be repeated on a regular basis…In addition to the anti-drug operations, President Calderón has increased salaries of troops involved in counter-cartel operations by nearly 50%.”

In more recent news, Mexico elected a new attorney general after the prior attorney general, Eduardo Medina Mora (PAN) recently resigned,  Arturo Chavez Chavez (PAN), the main candidate supported by Calderón, received opposition from the Senate.  Chavez, from Chihuahua, is being criticized by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and human rights activists for potential mishandling of investigations of the killings of hundreds of women in Juarez, where mass femicide is currently taking place.  Chihuahua is currently one of the most violent areas in Mexico.  In present Mexican politics, it is important to look for candidates with high moral standards that can stand against the corruption of the Mexican government; for this reason, Chavez is seen by some as a controversial choice.  The attorney general plays a key role in combating the corruption involved in the drug war.

Another interesting approach to calming the violence is censoring a popular genre of music.  Narcocorridos, banda ballads praising drug culture, are being taken off the airwaves in hopes of diminishing the exposure of the glorification of the drug cartels.  “The Mexican Senate, unable to act itself because of freedom of speech legislation, exhorted individual states to restrict narcocorridos, saying the songs create a virtual justification for drug traffickers.”  Since the government cannot ban the extremely popular genre, individual states have voluntarily enacted bans with local radio stations.  According to an article, “the first thing a drug runner would do after a successful run was to hire someone to write a corrido about it.  Corrido performers normally charge thousands of dollars, or tens of thousands of pesos, to write and perform such a piece.”  As an example, one of the most famous Sinaloa Cartel leaders, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, is “celebrated in corridos for repeat­edly escaping from Mexican prisons and avoiding extradition.”

In conclusion, steps are being taken to solve the issues of corruption in the Mexican government.  With increased solidarity and international intervention, we can hope Mexico promptly resolves its ghastly violent drug war.