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Cartel Land

     For this project, I decided to watch Cartel Land directed by Matthew Heineman, which covers different vigilante groups fighting in Mexico and along the border as a violent drug war rages on in Mexico. One particular scene that shook me to the core was when a young woman started sobbing listing 13 names, ages ranging from 40 to 6 months, as men dug a mass grave. The names she was listing were members of her family who worked at a lime farm. The owner of the lime farm had been doing business with the cartel, and when the owner did not have his payment on time, the cartel brutally killed his workers as revenge. As people scream and sob in the background, the woman described how the infants were smashed into rocks by the legs and then tossed into a well like trash. Others were cut into pieces and beheaded. I almost had to mute the TV as she was describing the slaughtering. I just couldn't believe what I was hearing. That's all I could say. 

     It's truly insane to think that this barbarism and evil is happening just to the south of our border. What really surprised me was how complicit the Mexican government and its institutions are. Whether it be Federal Police assisting cartels in selling drugs or the Army disarming civilian "autodefensas" for defending their towns against cartel violence, truly shows just how deep the corruption goes. 

    I still question if there will ever be a real solution that can't be tainted by corruption to defeat the evil that lies within these drug cartels. Even the "autodefensas" formed by Dr. Jose Mirales were infiltrated by bad actors, and this was supposed to be a grassroots coalition fighting for the greater good comprised of ordinary townspeople. This documentary did not give me hope that there is a real solution that can be solved by Mexico. 



Comments

  1. Casey AikmanOctober 3, 2022 at 8:17 PM

    I haven't seen Cartel Land but based on your response, it gives viewers a good understanding of what goes on in Mexico. That's unfortunate that you don't think there's hope for a solution, but it sounds like the documentary was really informative.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Andy PhamOctober 24, 2022 at 11:50 AM

    Based of your summary on Cartel Land, it's scary but interesting to see what's going on the dark side of Mexico. It really makes me feel grateful for being born in the U.S. where it's safe.

    ReplyDelete

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