Silver or Lead, the drug war in Mexico

Silver or Lead cover

A few months ago I did a series of illustrations for a short book called “Silver or Lead, the drug dilemma.” It was written and designed by my talented friend Marissa Haro. To see more of her work check out her website: www.marissaharo.com

index

In the book Marissa tackles several issues pertaining to the drug war that is taking place in Mexico and the US. Mexican president Felipe Calderon openly declared war on the Mexican drug cartels in December of 2006, and heavily militarized the country. Since then, more than twelve thousand people have been killed.

so far from God, so close to...

In Mexico there is a saying “so far from God and so close to the US,” and in the case of the drug war, the saying is more than accurate. The US is the largest exporter of weapons and the largest consumer of drugs. Ninety percent of the weapons that are seized from Mexican drug traffickers can be traced back to the US. Most of these weapons are actually bought legally and then sold in the black market.

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90% of the weapons

That is not say that the Mexican government is exempt of responsibility for the current situation. Widespread corruption among Mexican officials has allowed the cartels to flourish and to have their present strength. Corrupt officials continue to protect them.

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without govermental coruption...

However, any realistic end to the drug war must involve a shift in policy from the US towards both the use of drugs –treating addicts clinically as oppose to criminally—and towards gun control.

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To me it’s simple economics. Consumption, not production is what needs to be deterred. If there is demand there will be supply. If a day ever came when the Mexican cartels no longer existed, new cartels would spring up in the Caribbean, in Asia, or anywhere else in the world for that matter.

In Drugs We Trust

I have an earlier post on the subject. This is a link to it: https://duncantonatiuh.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/narcocorridos/ The illustrations in that post have backgrounds, etc. Marissa decided to use only the characters in the images I made for design purposes.

Narcocorridos

South American and Mexican narcos doing business

I’m posting a series of illustrations about the drug war I was commissioned to do recently. I am fascinated with the topic and have been following it. I am content with the way the Obama administration has been responding to the issue. I am glad that the US government is acknowledging that it is as a large a player in the drug business as are the Mexican narcos and corrupt Mexican officers.

The large majority of the guns that have responsible for the deaths and mayhem in Mexico come from the US. Most of them are in fact bought legally. The US government needs to have stricter gun laws, or at the very least tighten security at the border to prevent both the smuggling of weapons in to Mexico and the smuggling of drugs into the US.

Gun-Mart

Further as long as there is demand its going to be profitable to supply that market. The narcos in Mexico might one day be stopped, but drug traffickers in other parts of the world, whether it is in China, Haiti, anywhere really, are going to spring up to fill the vacuum. I would encourage the US government to develop health programs that help addicts become free of their addiction, rather then wasting those resources incarcerating petty offenders.

I’m also posting this piece, which I haven’t finished yet. It is about the actual production of the cocaine. There are interesting videos of how it is produced on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sVGOw0g0BA. It’s full of nasty shtuff, gasoline and what not. The farmers that grow in South America often don’t have better options and growing coca is what they can do to survive.

To see larger versions of my images check out my website: http://www.duncantonatiuh.com or email me duncasito@yahoo.com.

I am looking for magazines and newpapers that are interested in my images. Any body have suggestions for how i can get in touch with Art Directors for the Economist, The New York Times Magazine, etc?