drug cartels

Mired in Controversy, ‘American Dirt’ Is a Gripping Story of a Family’s Perilous Journey

Lee Polevoi

Jeanine Cummins’s novel, American Dirt, appeared early in 2020, drawing initial excitement and laudatory reviews. Soon, the book came under attack, with accusations and recriminations revolving around the issue of cultural appropriation. Critics questioned Cummins’s legitimacy and ability to write a novel about a Mexican mother and child on the run from a vicious drug cartel. Protests followed and a host of publicity events and television appearances were canceled.

A Quiet Revolution Brews in Mexico

Kent Paterson

As immigrants rally in cities across the United States today, another drumbeat of protest and revolt beats loudly in southern Mexico. Beginning as a teachers’ strike against a new federal education law last February, the protest is now transforming into a broad popular movement against not only the much-touted Pact for Mexico policies of new President Enrique Pena Nieto, but also the political and economic structures they are based on.

Mexican Drug Cartels Flock to Spain to Set Up Base

Louis E.V. Nevaer

The economic crisis in Spain, with a crippling jobless rate at 26 percent and labor strikes growing violent, has unleashed a brutal turf war between rival Latin American drug cartels. Spain’s rapid economic and social collapse in the second half of 2012 created compelling opportunities for drug cartels from Mexico to “relocate” their operations. The conflict between rival Colombian and Mexican drug cartels for domination of Spain is producing an unprecedented “turf” war.

War on Drugs to Escalate as New Mexican President Prepares for Office

Louis E.V. Nevaer

In the wake of Mexico’s presidential election Sunday, analysts are expecting Mexico to launch a major “blitzkrieg surge” against the drug cartels during current president Felipe Calderon’s lame duck period. President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto won’t take office until Dec. 1, leaving a five-month period during which Mexico is expected to intensify its drive against the drug cartels.

Brutal Murders Near U.S.-Mexican Border Raise Suspicions About Drug Cartels

Manuel Rueda

On Sunday, May 13, Mexican police found 49 mutilated bodies, believed by some to be migrants, on a road that connects the industrial city of Monterrey with the United States border. The corpses had their hands, heads, and feet chopped off, making them difficult to identify. Drug cartels have increasingly used the public display of corpses as warning to other cartels or criminal organizations. 

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