El Narco by Ioan Grillo

El Narco: Inside Mexico's Criminal Insurgency, Ioan Grillo. New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2011. ebook, 327 pps.


El Narco gives the lowdown on the total FAIL of the United States' so-called War On Drugs and this country's efforts to strong-arm other countries into joining up. [note: The United States appears to have a sort of pattern of demanding that other countries get on the latest bandwagon. This aggravates me. As an American citizen, I cannot condone these actions. As a human being, I am against my country's politicians and presidents attempting to manipulate other countries into enforcing our "laws," especially if those "laws" are unjust]. There is also a very good description of devotion to the folk-saint Malverde. Jesus Malverde of Sinaloa is revered by many people, not just drug dealers. A shrine to him is popular in spite of the official non-recognition of his veneration by the Roman Catholic Church.

But what really distinguishes El Narco from other books describing Mexican "cartels"-- a term which is not entirely accurate and out of favor-- are the interviews with past and present narcos themselves. I found the interviews to be very informative. They put human faces on the information being presented.

sapphoq reviews says: It is because of this book and another one that I no longer wish to migrate to Mexico. Mexico will always remain special in my heart of hearts as a place that I have fallen in love with and as a spiritual home. Definitely worth reading for a more global understanding of the Drug Wars.