7 billion neighbors

Populations faced with the violence of Mexican drug trafficking

Audio 48:30

What reality for populations at the heart of drug trafficking?

© Shutterstock / SevenMaps

By: Emmanuelle Bastide

2 mins

At the global level, Mexico occupies a central place in drug trafficking that neither the "war on drug trafficking" initiated by the various governments since 2006, nor the arrest of the famous godfather Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, in 2019, n were able to question.

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In 15 years, the human toll is heavy with more than 300,000 dead and more than 100,000 missing.

This is more than most armed conflicts of the 21st century.

At the heart of the traffic, the state of Sinaloa, from which the famous “Sinaloa cartel” takes its name, is the subject of all-media attention, popularized in particular by the streaming giant Netflix.

But this media coverage and the glamorization of drug trafficking does not take into account the daily reality of the populations of the region who bear the brunt of the collusion between the Mexican State and criminal groups.

Residents who often live on the fringes of the economy and employment, subject to fear and the threats of trafficking.

What reality for populations at the heart of drug trafficking?  

Rebroadcast of Friday, April 1, 2022

With :

Adèle Blazquez

, anthropologist at the

and author of

.

An interview with 

, correspondent for RFI in Mexico.

In 2006, the government of Felipe Calderon declared war on drugs by deploying military forces to fight the cartels.

16 years later, the strategy changes with the coming to power of President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador and his slogan “abrazos, no balazos – translate: hugs, no bullets”.

For what efficiency?

Our correspondent explains the consequences on the ground of this change of tactics.

And at the end of the program, the testimony of Nacho Carretero, Spanish journalist, collected by

.

He investigated drug trafficking in Galicia, a region in northwestern Spain, and drew from it a book published by Editions du Cherche-Midi, "Fariña": "flour" in Galician, one of the names given to cocaine. 

The testimony of Nacho Carretero, Spanish journalist interviewed by Charlie Dupiot

Musical programming:

► 

- Gerardo Ortiz

►

 - Rodrigo Amarante.

Our guest Adèle Blazquez tells you about the village of Badiraguato, a mountainous town in northwestern Mexico, located in the heart of the state of Sinaloa.

Here is a map to help you find your way. 

Map of Mexico showing the village of Badiraguato in the State of Sinaloa © Alexandre Nicolas

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