Oswaldo Zavala

Challenging misconceptions about drug cartels in Mexico, exploring US influence and militarization, analyzing the Merida Initiative's impact, discussing the war on drugs and geopolitical implications, Lopez Obrador's militarization dilemma, journalist challenges in Mexico, and promoting the guest's book and supporting the show.

Alex Aviña, an ASU history professor who traces the transnational roots of the war on drugs, and Oswaldo Zavala, a scholar-journalist studying narcotrafficking discourse and militarization, unpack how state narratives and U.S.-Mexico flows shape violence. They discuss manufactured "Mr. Big" myths, militarized counterinsurgency tactics, media sensationalism, transnational arms and policy flows, and links between extraction and depopulation.

Violence erupted across Mexico after the killing of Mexico’s most notorious drug cartel leader, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, on Sunday. Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” was the head of the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación, an organization that trafficked drugs across multiple Mexican states and countries. The killing signaled an aggressive and unexpected approach from Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, to confronting organized crime. As the chaos settles and shelter in place restrictions lift, the relationship between Mexico’s drug kingpins, the government and the rest of society remains unclear. We talk about what the killing means for Mexico and the United States and what could happen next. Guests: Javier Cabral, editor, L.A. Taco - independent local news and culture site; Associate producer for the Taco Chronicles on Netflix Oswaldo Zavala, professor of Latin American Literature and Culture, City University of New York - College of Staten Island; author of “Drug Cartels Do Not Exist: Narcotrafficking in US and Mexican Culture.”<br /> Cecilia Farfán-Méndez, head of the North American Observatory, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices