In the Shadow of Saint Death. The Gulf Cartel and the Price of America's Drug War in Mexico PDF
Preview In the Shadow of Saint Death. The Gulf Cartel and the Price of America's Drug War in Mexico
D e i b “Michael Deibert has to be one of the most courageous journalists working today.” A gritty look at the war being waged at e —Ben Fountain, author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk r t America’s border and the violent and corrupt IN THE SHADOW OF world that US drug policy has wrought I Punctuated by the disappearance of buses N SAINT DEATH full of people from Mexican highways, fire- fights in colonial towns, and the discovery T of mass graves, nowhere has the violence of “Deibert turns his unflinching eye on Mexico to explore the hor- H Mexico’s drug war been more intense than Michael Deibert is the author of The rific price that country has paid for the United States’ failed ‘war E directly across the border from East Texas, Democratic Republic of Congo: Between Hope on drugs.’ This extraordinary book cuts through the politics and the scene of a scorched-earth war between and Despair and Notes from the Last Testa- propaganda, straight to the heart of the matter—the lives lost, the S two of Mexico’s largest drug trafficking ment: The Struggle for Haiti. His writing profits reaped, and the vast systems on both sides of the border H organizations: The Gulf Cartel, a criminal has appeared in the Washington Post, Wall that keep the whole bloody business going.” body with roots stretching back to Pro- A Street Journal, Miami Herald, Huffington Post, hibition, and Los Zetas, a group famous The Guardian, Le Monde diplomatique, Folha D —Ben Fountain, winner of the National Books Critics’ Circle for their savagery and largely made up of de Sao Paulo, and the World Policy Journal, Award and finalist for the National Book Award O deserters from Mexico’s armed forces. among other venues. He has been a fea- W With the war between the Mexican tured commentator on international affairs state and drug traffickers having claimed on the BBC, UK Channel 4, National Pub- “In the Shadow of Saint Death is not for the fainthearted. It con- over 70,000 lives since 2006, noted jour- lic Radio, WNYC New York Public Radio, tains uncomfortable, painful truths about Mexico’s powerful and O nalist and author Michael Deibert zeroes and KPFK Pacifica Radio. bloody Gulf Cartel, its origins, and the insatiable US demand for F in on the story of the notorious Gulf Car- Visit him at michaeldeibert.com and illicit drugs. Richly told, Michael Deibert’s book is a remarkable tel, its deadly war with their former allies S michaeldeibert.blogspot.com. chronicle of a cartel’s rise and a country’s fall.” Los Zetas, the cartels’ connections in Mex- A ican politics, and what its trajectory means — Alfredo Corchado, author of Midnight in Mexico: A Reporter’s I for Mexico’s—and America’s—future. N Journey Through a Country’s Descent into Darkness Combining dozens of interviews that T the author conducted over the last six years in Mexico and other countries in the D region along with a vast reserve of second- E ary source material, In the Shadow of Saint A Death gives US readers the story of the war Cover design by Bret Kerr T being waged along our border in the voices Cover photograph of gun licensed by Shutterstock.com H of the cartel hit men, law enforcement offi- Author photograph by Hilary Wallis The Gulf CarTel and The PriCe $24.95 /Canadian $27.50 cials, politicians, shopkeepers, migrants, ISBN 978-0-7627-9125-5 of ameriCa’s druG War in mexiCo and children living inside of it year-round. 52495 Lyons Press is an imprint of Globe Pequot Press Guilford, Connecticut Michael Deibert LyonsPress.com 9 780762 791255 LYONS PRESS D e i b “Michael Deibert has to be one of the most courageous journalists working today.” A gritty look at the war being waged at e —Ben Fountain, author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk r t America’s border and the violent and corrupt IN THE SHADOW OF world that US drug policy has wrought I Punctuated by the disappearance of buses N SAINT DEATH full of people from Mexican highways, fire- fights in colonial towns, and the discovery T of mass graves, nowhere has the violence of “Deibert turns his unflinching eye on Mexico to explore the hor- H Mexico’s drug war been more intense than Michael Deibert is the author of The rific price that country has paid for the United States’ failed ‘war E directly across the border from East Texas, Democratic Republic of Congo: Between Hope on drugs.’ This extraordinary book cuts through the politics and the scene of a scorched-earth war between and Despair and Notes from the Last Testa- propaganda, straight to the heart of the matter—the lives lost, the S two of Mexico’s largest drug trafficking ment: The Struggle for Haiti. His writing profits reaped, and the vast systems on both sides of the border H organizations: The Gulf Cartel, a criminal has appeared in the Washington Post, Wall that keep the whole bloody business going.” body with roots stretching back to Pro- A Street Journal, Miami Herald, Huffington Post, hibition, and Los Zetas, a group famous The Guardian, Le Monde diplomatique, Folha D —Ben Fountain, winner of the National Books Critics’ Circle for their savagery and largely made up of de Sao Paulo, and the World Policy Journal, Award and finalist for the National Book Award O deserters from Mexico’s armed forces. among other venues. He has been a fea- W With the war between the Mexican tured commentator on international affairs state and drug traffickers having claimed on the BBC, UK Channel 4, National Pub- “In the Shadow of Saint Death is not for the fainthearted. It con- over 70,000 lives since 2006, noted jour- lic Radio, WNYC New York Public Radio, tains uncomfortable, painful truths about Mexico’s powerful and O nalist and author Michael Deibert zeroes and KPFK Pacifica Radio. bloody Gulf Cartel, its origins, and the insatiable US demand for F in on the story of the notorious Gulf Car- Visit him at michaeldeibert.com and illicit drugs. Richly told, Michael Deibert’s book is a remarkable tel, its deadly war with their former allies S michaeldeibert.blogspot.com. chronicle of a cartel’s rise and a country’s fall.” Los Zetas, the cartels’ connections in Mex- A ican politics, and what its trajectory means — Alfredo Corchado, author of Midnight in Mexico: A Reporter’s I for Mexico’s—and America’s—future. N Journey Through a Country’s Descent into Darkness Combining dozens of interviews that T the author conducted over the last six years in Mexico and other countries in the D region along with a vast reserve of second- E ary source material, In the Shadow of Saint A Death gives US readers the story of the war Cover design by Bret Kerr T being waged along our border in the voices Cover photograph of gun licensed by Shutterstock.com H of the cartel hit men, law enforcement offi- Author photograph by Hilary Wallis The Gulf CarTel and The PriCe $24.95 /Canadian $27.50 cials, politicians, shopkeepers, migrants, ISBN 978-0-7627-9125-5 of ameriCa’s druG War in mexiCo and children living inside of it year-round. 52495 Lyons Press is an imprint of Globe Pequot Press Guilford, Connecticut Michael Deibert LyonsPress.com 9 780762 791255 LYONS PRESS In the Shadow of Saint Death The Gulf Cartel and the Price of America’s Drug War in Mexico Michael Deibert ITSOSD_4pp.indd 1 3/25/14 11:56 AM Copyright © 2014 by Michael Deibert ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to Globe Pequot Press, Attn: Rights and Permissions Department, PO Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437. Lyons Press is an imprint of Globe Pequot Press. Project Editor: Lauren Brancato Layout Artist: Mary Ballachino Map: Alena Joy Pearce © Morris Book Publishing, LLC Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file. ISBN 978-0-7627-9125-5 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ITSOSD_4pp.indd 2 3/25/14 11:56 AM To the hundreds of thousands of people in Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, and other countries who lost their lives as their governments, at the demand of the United States, prosecuted a war that should have never been fought To all in those countries who have worked to give justice to the victims To all in those countries who worked to give their nations functioning institutions of governance, an endeavor which, in the face of the violence, money, corruption, and impunity arrayed against them, represented nothing short of a revolutionary act And in memory of Sebastian Montiel Quezada, the Mexican ITSOSD_4pp.indd 3 3/25/14 11:56 AM The Mexican’s indifference toward death is fostered by his indifference toward life. He views not only death but also life as non transcendent. . . . We kill because life—our own or another’s—is of no value. Life and death are inseparable, and when the former lacks meaning, the latter becomes equally meaningless. Mexican death is the mirror of Mexican life. And the Mexican shuts himself away and ignores both of them. —Octavio Paz, El Laberinto de la Soledad You can have everything. But it has a price. —Former hitman for Los Zetas drug cartel ITSOSD_4pp.indd 4 3/25/14 11:56 AM Contents Acknowledgments vii Note on Names ix Acronyms x Prologue xiii Chapter One: The Frontier 1 Chapter Two: The Rise of the Gulf Cartel 21 Chapter Three: Enter Los Zetas 33 Chapter Four: No Truce and No Quarter 57 Chapter Five: La Zona Libre 77 Chapter Six: By Fair Means or Foul 97 Chapter Seven: Breaking Up 107 Chapter Eight: Enemies Everywhere 124 Chapter Nine: The Ghosts of San Fernando 129 Chapter Ten: States of Siege 139 Chapter Eleven: The Highway of Death 150 Chapter Twelve: Casino Royale 170 Chapter Thirteen: Veracruz 187 Chapter Fourteen: Messages 200 Chapter Fifteen: The Executioner’s Song 215 Chapter Sixteen: Day of the Dead 225 Epilogue 232 Notes 242 Bibliography 304 Index 306 ITSOSD_4pp.indd 5 3/25/14 2:35 PM ITSOSD_4pp.indd 6 3/25/14 11:56 AM Acknowledgments The story of the relationship between Mexico and the United States, and the history and policies that have contributed to it, is a long and compli- cated one, of which the book you hold in your hands is but one episode. Nevertheless, in exploring this aspect of Mexican history, a number of individuals proved to be of invaluable assistance. In Mexico itself, Franc Contreras, Luis Oscar Hinojos Aguirre, Javier Esteban Hernández Valencia, Gustavo Pacheco, Michael Weissenstein, Katrin Mader, and Sonja Wolf all contributed to my ability to write this account, as did a great number of people who, because of concerns about their safety with the situation as it is in Mexico today, will have to remain nameless. To those people, never doubt, however, that I am forever in your debt for all that you were willing to show me and share with me. On the US side of the Rio Grande, Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera of the University of Texas at Brownsville, Mark Clark of the Galeria 409, and Virginia Ramos, who first strolled with me across the bridge into Mat- amoros years ago, helped me decode the intricacies of life on both sides of the border. The journalists of the Rio Grande Valley, Marcia Caltabiano- Ponce, Lynn Brezosky, and Ildefonso Ortiz, who knows more about orga- nized crime in the area than anyone I know and who I hope one day will write his own book, provided context and contacts that proved invaluable. Thanks very much to both my agent, Adriann Ranta, and my editor, Jon Sternfeld, for believing in the value of this endeavor. In Miami, where much of this book was written, I would like to thank Anna Edgerton, Anna Blash, Daniela Guzman Peña, Natasha Del Toro, Noelle Théard, and Kym Quidiello for their friendship, and further afield, Hilary Wallis, Anastasia Kitova, Justin Cappiello, Ben Fountain, Meghan Feeks, Sutton Stokes, Gerry Hadden, Philip Schnell, Erin Mobekk, and Pedro Rodriguez. I thank my family, Benjamin Deibert, Christopher Deibert, Caleb Deibert, Elizabeth Deibert, and James Breon, for seeing me along this road. And I remember, in recent years, los que se fueron: Jann Deibert, Joseph Deibert, Leah Breon, Sebastian Quezada, and Philippe Allouard. vii ITSOSD_4pp.indd 7 3/25/14 11:56 AM Acknowledgments Because this is a book about organized crime, drug trafficking, vio- lence, and failed policies, it does not focus on the many wonderful aspects of Mexico and its culture. The warmth of Mexico’s people, their unsur- passed work ethic, their devotion to family, their subtle, seductive cuisine, and their incredibly deep and diverse traditions of art, music, and litera- ture are all touched upon, but there is a universe of those to be explored beyond the pages of this book, and I hope that readers will do so. To the people who live in the affected communities in Mexico who can’t just pack up and leave or walk back across the bridge to El Norte like I can, to those who dare still speak out, to the poor people who pile onto buses and on the tops of trains to get from places such as El Salva- dor, Honduras, Guatemala, and elsewhere, heading to Mexico’s northern border and, once there (and en route), face killers with weapons in their hands and an idiotic wall (both real and metaphorical) constructed by my own country: You are braver than I could ever be. Michael Deibert Miami, Florida June 2014 viii ITSOSD_4pp.indd 8 3/25/14 11:56 AM
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