Narcoland: The Mexican Drug Lords and Their Godfathers

by Anabel Hernández, Roberto Saviano (Introduction), Iain Bruce (Translator), Lorna Scott Fox (Translator)

Overview

This “investigative magnum opus” offers a jaw-dropping history of Mexican drug cartels as it transports readers to the frontlines of the ‘war on drugs’ in Latin America (Los Angeles Times).
 
“A riveting story . . . [from] an incredibly brave journalist.” —NPR
 
The “war on drugs” has so far cost more than 60,000 lives. Hernández explains in riveting detail how Mexico became a base for the mega-cartels of Latin America and one of the most violent places on the planet. At every turn, Hernández names not just the narcos, but also the politicians, functionaries, judges, and entrepreneurs who have collaborated with them. In doing so, she reveals the mind-boggling depth of corruption in Mexico’s government and business elite.

Hernández became a journalist after her father was kidnapped and killed and the police refused to investigate without a bribe. She gained national prominence in 2001 with her exposure of excess and misconduct at the presidential palace, and previous books have focused on criminality at the summit of power, under presidents Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderón.

The product of 5 years’ investigative reporting—and the subject of intense national controversy—Narcoland is a publishing and political sensation in Mexico.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781781682968
Publisher:	Verso Books
Publication date:	09/09/2014
Edition description:	Updated
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	1,057,833
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Anabel Hernández is one of Mexico’s leading investigative journalists, writing about slave labor, sexual exploitation, political corruption, organized crime and drug cartels. In 2012, she was presented with the Golden Pen of Freedom in Ukraine by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, and in 2014 she received the Hans Verploeg Memorial Fund Award in Amsterdam for journalistic heroism.

Table of Contents

Foreword Roberto Saviano ix

Introduction 1

1 A Poor Devil 9

2 Life or Death 27

3 A Perverse Pact 41

4 Raising Crows 63

5 El Chapo's Protectors 81

6 The Lord of Puente Grande 101

7 The Great Escape 137

8 Blood Ties 161

9 Narco Wars 199

10 Freedom Is Priceless 233

11 The President of Death 269

Epilogue: La Barbie Strikes Back 309

Glossary of Acronyms 333

Glossary of Persons 335

Index 347

Editorial Reviews

WINNER OF THE 2012 GOLDEN PEN OF FREEDOM

“An investigative magnum opus.”
—Los Angeles Times

“A riveting story ... an incredibly brave journalist.”
—NPR Morning Edition

“This is a book that you read twenty-five pages at a time and then take a break from, shaking your head in disbelief that everything it contains could really have occurred. That it did only makes Hernández’s undertaking all the more necessary.”
—Barnes & Noble Review

“Rigorous, disturbing narrative of how drug cartels infiltrated Mexican society’s highest levels ... Essential reading for a serious understanding of how the war on drugs is destroying the social fabric of South American nations.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“The most remarkable feature of Anabel Hernández’s brave and invaluable account of Mexico’s blood-drenched drug wars is that she survived long enough to write it.”
—Sunday Times

“Braving the wrath of drug traffickers and government officials alike … Hernández has exposed the corruption at the heart of the drug war that has killed over 80,000 of her compatriots since 2006.”
—Nation

“Anabel Hernández accuses the Mexican state of complicity with the cartels, and says the ‘war on drugs’ is a sham. She’s had headless animals left at her door and her family have been threatened by gunmen ... Narcoland became, and remains, a bestseller: more than 100,000 copies sold in Mexico. The success is impossible to overstate, a staggering figure for a nonfiction book in a country with indices of income and literacy incomparable to the American–European book-buying market.”
—Ed Vulliamy, Observer

“Anabel Hernández exposes the most murderous drug organization in Mexico, the Mexican government. Of course, this level of corruption is only possible thanks to the moral and financial support of the leaders in Washington. Here’s the story the media never has the time to tell you.” —Charles Bowden author of Murder City

“Jaw-dropping reading.”
—Independent

“While many Mexican politicians and officials merely pretend to fight the drugs producers, Anabel Hernández has taken a genuine stand in favour of the rule of law and decency in her society. [Narcoland] is in itself an important statement. She deserves our respect and admiration for making it.”
—Spectator

“A searing indictment of a war on drugs Hernández believes was a sham from the start.”
—Financial Times

“Mexico has become one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, with violence and impunity remaining major challenges in terms of press freedom. In making [the Golden Pen of Freedom award], we recognize the strong stance Ms. Hernández has taken, at great personal risk, against drug cartels.”
—World Association of Newspapers and New Publishers

From the Publisher

First published in Mexico as Los señores del narco in 2010, this dry translation brings Mexican investigative journalist Hernández’s exposé about drug trafficking in Mexico to an English-speaking audience. Five years in the making, it’s an in-depth, unforgiving look at the deep-rooted corruption that has allowed the cartels to flourish; they now influence and control vast swaths of the country. Numerous anecdotes and interviews flesh out a decades-long narrative, touching on everything from CIA and DEA involvement, to how the drug lords run their empires from prison, to the way these powerful men live and die. It’s a scathing, sobering report, as Hernández lays the blame not just on the drug cartels, but on “all those who exercise everyday power from behind a false halo of legality” to make their “law of ‘silver or lead’” a reality. While appendices containing glossaries of acronyms and short bios do much to reduce reader confusion, there’s still an immense and exhausting amount of information to absorb. Those willing to slog through the dense bits will find a thought-provoking portrait of the crime and corruption that dominates our southerly neighbor. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Indispensable reading for anyone who wants to understand the origins of the violence ... An extraordinary book for making the necessary journey to our heart of darkness.

Letras Libres

In this brave work, the author argues that since the presidency of Gustavo Díaz Ordaz (1964–1970), all of Mexico’s rulers have maintained close relations with groups that import, export, and sell illegal drugs.

La Jornada

Rigorous, disturbing narrative of how drug cartels infiltrated Mexican society's highest levels. Investigative journalist Hernández has clearly put herself at risk to assemble this specific social narrative that begins in the 1980s, when Mexican drug trafficking was regionalized and controlled and thus tolerated by the government (and covertly by the United States, as evidenced by traffickers' involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal). Hernández sees the 2001 prison escape of the aggressive trafficker "El Chapo" Guzman as a crucial watershed for the sharp increase in violence. Guzman then formed a "Federation" among various midlevel cartels, forcing open warfare between that group and the Sinaloa and Gulf cartels and making overt the federal government's protection of him (beginning with his "escape"). This, in turn, enraged hyperviolent assassin cells in the employ of other drug barons, such as the notorious Zetas, initially composed of compromised Special Forces veterans. The result has been approximately 10,000 murders per year and the thorough discrediting of Mexico's labyrinthine bureaucracy and political system. Hernández notes that "Felipe Calderon stepped down as president of Mexico in December 2012 [with his term] engraved in collective memory as an era of death and corruption." The author pulls no punches in backing up such assertions; rather, she reviews evidence showing that the cartels' real power lies in relationships with untouchable elites in fields like banking and air transport. She similarly demonstrates that key police agencies, such as the Federal Investigations Agency, have been compromised, one of many examples of how "the Mexican government treats the narco-tycoons as untouchable." Hernández writes clearly, savoring the details and ironies of her investigation, with a tone of righteous polemical outrage, but her tale's grim implications and intricate narrative connections may prove hard going for casual readers. Essential reading for a serious understanding of how the war on drugs is destroying the social fabric of South American nations.

Kirkus Reviews