Sunday, September 1, 2013

Prohibition Spawned Mexico's Oldest Drug Cartel

 

Hey everyone!  Recently IVN News published my recent piece about the current Mexican drug war and its roots in American alcohol Prohibition.  It's quite simply titled "Prohibition Spawned Mexico's Oldest Drug Cartel" and is a little shorter than my usual pieces.

While Al Capone grew wealthy in the Midwest and Enoch Johnson ruled his boardwalk empire in the Northeast, other entrepreneurs were busy elsewhere. Juan N. Guerra, a Mexican national from Matamoros, entered the bootlegging business in 1929 and quickly took control of all liquor moving across the Rio Grande into South Texas.
Like many drug lords in the mid-twentieth century, “Don Juan” Guerra filled the patronage void which grew as elderly warlords from the Mexican Revolution passed away... 

Read the full article here!


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Photo courtesy of AP Mexico.  I'm thinking of writing a book-length essay on the Mexican drug war, which is just as much a civil war as it is a drug war.  After all, when the government troops and narco-guerrillas are of the same nationality...  Anyway, comment if you'd be interested in reading it.

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