Guillermo Jimenez Presents Ioan Grillo
On this edition of De-Manufacturing Consent: Guillermo is joined by investigative journalist and author of the book El Narco: Inside Mexico’s Criminal Insurgency, Ioan Grillo. Guillermo and Ioan discuss the ongoing struggle in Mexico with focus on the state of Michoacan and the rise of “autodefensas” (civilian self-defense groups) that some have compared to the Zapatista movement of the 1990s.
Mr. Grillo describes how a people subjected to brutal violence, kidnapping, extortion, and systematic rape at the hands of organized criminals have come together and begun to do what the federal government is unable or unwilling to do. Grillo provides a brief history of the conflict and how it led to an armed confrontation between the autodefensas, the Cabelleros Templarios (Knights Templar Cartel), and the Mexican military. We also discuss broader issues of “narco culture,” media and the risk of sensationalism, prohibition, marijuana legalization, and the drug war economy.
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