ENTREVISTA
Los mercados de consumo, las geografias y el narcotráfico
“Cuando hablamos de mercado de consumo nos referimos a una estructura jerárquica, con reglas de juego establecidas, con balance entre oferta y demanda y control territorial armado. Se trata de un problema de seguridad y un problema político. Determinadas zonas de las ciudades caen bajo el control de bandas organizadas, distribuidoras de drogas en un radio determinado, con una estructura diversificada de roles y mandos y con un determinado poder de cooptación y corrupción a las autoridades policiales y políticas. Los homicidios son las formas rutinarias de sanción penal, disputas por el control territorial y de disputa política con el gobierno”.
Hablando de ello está Norberto Emmerich, con quien trataremos de definir mejor los hitos del mundo del narcotráfico. Consultor Internacional experto en prospectiva estratégica y pensamiento anticipatorio. Doctor en Ciencia Política y Licenciado en Relaciones Internacionales. Presidente del Centro de Estudios en Estrategia y Políticas Públicas – CEEYPP. Se ha desempeñado como Decano del Centro de Seguridad y Defensa del Instituto de Altos Estudios Nacionales – IAEN, Ecuador. Es profesor de la Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, México. Cuenta con una reconocida trayectoria como académico a nivel de posgrado en prestigiosas instituciones de varios países. Especialista en prospectiva estratégica, geopolítica y seguridad, cuenta con más de 20 años de experiencia como capacitador internacional de alta especialización y ha dictado más de 200 conferencias. Es autor de varios libros en sus disciplinas de especialidad.
¿Cuando hablamos de Narcotráfico, hablamos de drogas o de Estado?
Hablamos necesariamente de ambas cosas al mismo tiempo, porque no puede haber narcotráfico sin que el Estado ampare, tolere o encubra por acción en la mayoría de las ocasiones o por omisión en algunos casos.
Si se define al narcotráfico solo como un problema de drogas la problemática tiene un perfil comercial y económico, porque se trata de la producción, tráfico y consumo de sustancias ilegales. Tiene (o tendría que tener) incidencia en las políticas públicas de salud por tratarse de consumos problemáticos. En general el tema es tomado de esta manera por las autoridades y en consecuencia elaboran políticas de seguridad de persecución a los traficantes, a los consumidores y a los productores, mucho menos a los lavadores. En la Argentina, por ejemplo, el narcotráfico internacional es un delito del fuero penal económico, cae en la jurisdicción de la Aduana y se conceptualiza como contrabando agravado.
Si el narcotráfico se define como un problema relacionado con el Estado, se lo considera en consecuencia una problemática política, de corrupción, baja calidad democrática y captura del Estado. Ya no se trata de una simple lógica delito/delincuente sino de una lógica organizacional compleja, racional y atada a rutinas.
When we talk about “narcotráfico”, do we talk about drug trafficking or about a State?
We necessarily speak of both things at the same time, because there can be no drug trafficking without the State protecting, tolerating or covering up by action in most cases or by omission in some cases.
If drug trafficking is defined only as a drug problem, the problem has a commercial and economic profile, because it deals with the production, trafficking and consumption of illegal substances. It has (or should have) an impact on public health policies because it involves problematic consumption. In general, the issue is taken this way by the authorities and consequently they elaborate security policies to persecute traffickers, consumers and producers, much less launderers. In Argentina, for example, international drug trafficking is an economic criminal offense, falls under the jurisdiction of Customs and is conceptualized as aggravated contraband.
If drug trafficking is defined as a problem related to the State, it is consequently considered a political problem, one of corruption, low democratic quality, and State capture. It is no longer a simple crime / delinquent logic but a complex, rational and routine.
¿Qué queremos decir con Mercado de consumo? ¿Consumo de drogas? ¿Y qué características tienen los Mercados de consumo?
Mercado de consumo y consumo de drogas son conceptos diferentes. El consumo de drogas entra en el ámbito de las preferencias personales o de las adicciones y eventualmente es un problema de salud pública. Por supuesto es un universo de problemática compleja y amplia que merece atención especializada y enfocada por parte del Estado en el área de la salud pública, un aspecto al que los gobiernos no dedican mucho presupuesto y no cuentan con recursos humanos que conformen una masa crítica apta para lidiar con el tema.
Cuando hablamos de mercado de consumo nos referimos a una estructura jerárquica, con reglas de juego establecidas, con balance entre oferta y demanda y control territorial armado. Se trata de un problema de seguridad y un problema político. Determinadas zonas de las ciudades caen bajo el control de bandas organizadas, distribuidoras de drogas en un radio determinado, con una estructura diversificada de roles y mandos y con un determinado poder de cooptación y corrupción a las autoridades policiales y políticas.
Los homicidios son las formas rutinarias de sanción penal, disputas por el control territorial y de disputa política con el gobierno.
What do we mean by consumer market? Consumption of drugs? And what characteristics do consumer markets have?
Consumer market and drug use are different concepts. Drug use falls within the realm of personal preferences or addictions and is eventually a public health problem. Of course, it is a universe of complex and broad problems that deserves specialized and focused attention from the State in the area of public health, an aspect to which governments do not dedicate much budget and do not have human resources that make up a suitable critical mass. to deal with the issue.
When we speak of the consumer market we refer to a hierarchical structure, with established rules of the game, with a balance between supply and demand and armed territorial control. It is a security problem and a political problem. Certain areas of the cities fall under the control of organized gangs, drug distributors within a certain radius, with a diversified structure of roles and commands and with a certain power to co-opt and corrupt the police and political authorities.
Homicides are the routine forms of criminal sanction, disputes for territorial control and political dispute with the government.
¿El narcotráfico tiene capacidad para crear «geografías»?
Mientras el Estado nacional es el receptor “natural” de la geografía nacional a través de la Constitución, fue perdiendo cierta capacidad de ser el creador monopólico de la geografía nacional.
En las geografías inhóspitas u hostiles, alejadas del centro del poder y donde el control del Estado es menos presente, el narcotráfico tiene capacidad de crear geografías viables, con sentido económico e integración política. En esas geografías distantes y posteriormente en las ciudades, el crimen organizado fue haciéndose cargo del control en determinados territorios, no necesariamente grandes.
Es el caso del sur colombiano en Nariño y Putumayo, en la frontera norte de Ecuador. O en la sierra de Guerrero, en Michoacán y en la tierra caliente mexicana. O en la relación entre Yacuiba y Salvador Mazza, en el norte argentino. En estas zonas, muchas veces fronterizas, la vinculación entre crimen organizado, trata de personas y narcotráfico es más estrecha, aunque no necesariamente asociada.
Does drug trafficking have the capacity to create «geographies»?
While the national State is the “natural” recipient of the national geography through the Constitution, it ‘ s been losing a certain capacity to be the monopoly creator of the national geography.
In inhospitable or hostile geographies, far from the center of power and where state control is less present, drug trafficking has the capacity to create viable geographies, with economic sense and political integration. In those distant geographies and later in the cities, organized crime was taking over control in certain territories, not necessarily large ones.
This is the case of southern Colombia in Nariño and Putumayo, on the northern border of Ecuador. Or in the Sierra de Guerrero, in Michoacán and in the Mexican hot land. Or in the relationship between Yacuiba and Salvador Mazza, in northern Argentina. In these areas, many times bordering, the link between organized crime, human trafficking and drug trafficking is closer, although not necessarily associated.
¿Las características geopolíticas de Brasil, México y Colombia en cada país pueden determinar comportamientos específicos de las organizaciones del narcotráfico?
El narcotráfico se comporta geopolíticamente, o sea dota de sentido humano a las geografías con las que se encuentra. Es el caso de la geografía brasileña, costera e intrincada, que ha dado lugar a carteles por ciudades y organizaciones por favelas, por la incomunicación propia del territorio nacional. Recién cuando el gobierno con su política de golpear e invertir logró en cierta medida quitar a los carteles el control sobre las favelas en Río de Janeiro, el Comando Vermelho migró hacia otras ciudades. Lo mismo sucedió con el PCC – Primer Comando de la Capital en San Pablo cuando el gobierno retomó cierto control sobre las cárceles, las calles y las corporaciones policiales y el PCC migró hacia otras ciudades. Por eso disminuyeron los indicadores de homicidios en Río de Janeiro y San Pablo y aumentaron en otras ciudades del interior de Brasil.
En Colombia, donde la cadena montañosa de los Andes divide al país en tres grandes regiones, políticamente poco comunicadas entre sí, los carteles también son por ciudades. Así surgen el Cartel de Cali y el Cartel de Medellín. En México, los carteles son locales con gran capacidad de expansión por la dificultad del poder central de expandir su poder mucho más allá de la meseta central, cada uno con sede en las zonas de amortiguación (Guerrero, Michoacán, Chihuahua) y con mercado de producción (amapola y marihuana) en el litoral pacífico a espaldas de la Sierra Madre Occidental (Sinaloa, el triángulo dorado y la sierra de Chihuahua). En el litoral atlántico de la Sierra Madre Oriental no hay espacios cultivables y no hay carteles. La geografía mexicana, enclavada entre desiertos al norte, montañas al oeste-este y selva con ríos en el sur, está llena de recovecos para ocultarse y lugares aptos para la insurgencia y el crimen (Chihuahua y Guerrero son sede de ambas cosas).
Can the geopolitical characteristics of Brazil, Mexico and Colombia in each country determine specific behaviors of drug trafficking organizations?
Drug trafficking behaves “geopolitically”: it offers “human meaning” to the geographies it encounters. This is the case of the Brazilian, coastal and intricate geography, which has given rise to cartels by cities and organizations by favelas, due to the isolation of the national territory. It was only when the government, with its policy of hitting and investing, managed to some extent to remove the cartels from control over the favelas in Rio de Janeiro, the Comando Vermelho migrated to other cities. The same happened with the PCC – First Command of the Capital in São Paulo when the government regained some control over the prisons, the streets and the police corporations and the PCC migrated to other cities. For this reason, homicide indicators decreased in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo and increased in other cities in the interior of Brazil.
In Colombia, where the Andes mountain chain divides the country into three large regions, politically little communicated with each other, the cartels are also by cities. This is how the Cali Cartel and the Medellín Cartel emerged. In Mexico, the cartels are places with a great capacity for expansion due to the difficulty of the central power to expand its power far beyond the central plateau, each one based in the buffer zones (Guerrero, Michoacán, Chihuahua) and with a market of production (poppy and marijuana) on the Pacific coast behind the Sierra Madre Occidental (Sinaloa, the Golden Triangle and the Sierra de Chihuahua). On the Atlantic coast of the Sierra Madre Oriental there are no arable spaces and there are no signs. The Mexican geography, nestled between deserts to the north, mountains to the west-east and jungle with rivers in the south, is full of nooks and crannies to hide and places suitable for insurgency and crime (Chihuahua and Guerrero are home to both.
¿El narcotráfico es todavía una “amenaza” Internacional? ¿Y como financiación al Terrorismo Internacional?
La pandemia produjo un retraimiento de la capacidad de internacionalización del narcotráfico por el bloqueo de fronteras y el confinamiento, pero los flujos de drogas se reacomodaron y recuperaron, aunque el cambio implicó un incremento de los consumos al interior de cada país.
El narcotráfico sigue siendo una amenaza internacional de importancia por diversos motivos. Primero por su capacidad necesaria de integrar circuitos de corrupción de la calidad de vida democrática; segundo por la internacionalización del sicariato y los crímenes por encargo en otros países; tercero por la financiación de actividades comerciales y económicas con dinero ilegal y cuarto por la provisión de dinero líquido a economías o empresas en crisis.
En cuanto al terrorismo internacional más que financiación AL terrorismo internacional correspondería hablar de financiación DEL terrorismo internacional, porque las organizaciones terroristas en diversas ocasiones incursionan en el narcotráfico como una forma de financiación de sus actividades terroristas, no como un “proveedor” o financista externo. Así sucedió con las FARC, que incursionaron en el mercado colombiano de narcotráfico para financiar su economía de guerra.
El giro del narcotráfico hacia la producción de drogas sintéticas (fentanilo, anfetaminas) en detrimento de las drogas de cultivo (marihuana, cocaína, heroína) le otorga al narcotráfico un mejor margen de maniobra para reciclarse y mantenerse.
Is drug trafficking an international «threat» yet? And what about financing International Terrorism?
The pandemic produced a withdrawal of the internationalization capacity of drug trafficking due to border blockades and confinement, but drug flows were rearranged and recovered, although the change implied an increase in consumption within each country.
Drug trafficking continues to be a major international threat for various reasons. First, because of its necessary capacity to integrate circuits of corruption of the quality of democratic life; second, by the internationalization of the hitman and commission crimes in other countries; third for the financing of commercial and economic activities with illegal money and fourth for the provision of liquid money to economies or companies in crisis.
Regarding international terrorism, rather than financing of international terrorism, it would be appropriate to speak of financing of international terrorism, because terrorist organizations on various occasions enter into drug trafficking as a way of financing their terrorist activities, not as an external “supplier” or financier. This is what happened with the FARC, which entered the Colombian drug trafficking market to finance its war economy.
The shift of drug trafficking towards the production of synthetic drugs (fentanyl, amphetamines) to the detriment of cultivated drugs (marijuana, cocaine, heroin) gives drug trafficking a better margin of maneuver to recycle and maintain itself.
¿Puede definir y explicar la definición de Estado Fallido?
El Estado fallido es un concepto ampliamente difundido en la literatura académica y política. Se refiere al Estado que ha perdido o ha visto seriamente disminuida la capacidad de satisfacer las funciones básicas del Estado, sobre todo la de dar seguridad a sus ciudadanos y sostener su propia capacidad de sobrevivencia, de modo que se convierte en una amenaza para la comunidad internacional. La existencia de grupos armados insurgentes que desestabilizan seriamente la gobernabilidad, la incapacidad de cohesionar las diferencias nacionales y protagonizar rivalidades disolventes de la unidad nacional, gobiernos en conflictos insolubles con gran parte de la comunidad internacional, gobiernos que protegen a organizaciones terroristas, etc.
A pesar de su difusión y utilización el concepto de estado fallido adolece de ser un concepto omniexplicativo y difuso, capaz de ser utilizado para cualquier situación con categorías que entren dentro de las detalladas. Es mejor analizar al estado y establecer indicadores sobre parámetros diversos (calidad democrática, libertad de prensa, presos políticos, partidos políticos, pobreza, PIB per cápita) para elaborar diagnósticos sobre la situación del Estado, alejándose del labelling approach tan característico de la idea de Estado fallido.
Can you define and explain the definition of the “Failed State” ?
The failed state is a widely disseminated concept in academic and political literature. It refers to the State that has lost or has seen seriously diminished the capacity to satisfy the basic functions of the State, especially that of giving security to its citizens and sustaining its own survival capacity, so that it becomes a threat to the international community. The existence of armed insurgent groups that seriously destabilize governance, the inability to unite national differences and lead dissolving rivalries of national unity, governments in insoluble conflicts with a large part of the international community, governments that protect terrorist organizations, etc.
Despite its diffusion and use, the failed state concept suffers from being an omni-explanatory and diffuse concept, capable of being used for any situation with categories that fall within the detailed ones. It is better to analyze the state and establish indicators on various parameters (democratic quality, freedom of the press, political prisoners, political parties, poverty, GDP per capita) to make diagnoses on the state’s situation, moving away from the labeling approach so characteristic of the idea of the failed State.
¿Cuánto afectará la Nueva Política Exterior de Biden sobre el narcotráfico en el área mexicana?
Funcionarios del nuevo gobierno americano manifestaron que los aspectos clave de la lucha de ambos países contra el narcotráfico no están funcionando y que Estados Unidos está abierto a buscar nuevas estrategias.
Los carteles mexicanos están entrelazados en los tres niveles de gobierno y han mutado hacia actividades más allá del tráfico de drogas, como la agricultura, la minería y el transporte; controlan la infraestructura estratégica y crítica, como los principales puertos y hasta las aduanas.
Diversos actores criminales tienen control sobre los puertos marítimos más grandes de México, incluidos Lázaro Cárdenas, Manzanillo y Veracruz, desde donde operan sus actividades de contrabando.
La influencia geopolítica china preocupa a Washington desde hace tiempo, pero el impacto de las organizaciones criminales chinas es un problema creciente en toda la región. Estos grupos criminales han provisto a los cárteles mexicanos de gran parte de los precursores químicos utilizados para fabricar fentanilo y otras drogas sintéticas.
Los esfuerzos para atacar a los cárteles de la droga dentro de México se han desmoronado por una ruptura en la cooperación entre las fuerzas del orden y las fuerzas armadas en ambos países. Dos grandes causas explican la discontinuidad: el temor de la contraparte mexicana por las repercusiones que puede aparear dentro de México el trabajo con la DEA y el arresto sin precedentes del general Cienfuegos Zepeda, que resintió la disponibilidad para el trabajo conjunto.
How much will Biden’s New Foreign Policy affect drug trafficking in the Mexican area?
Officials of the new American government stated that key aspects of both countries’ fight against drug trafficking are not working and that the United States is open to seeking new strategies.
Mexican cartels are intertwined at the three levels of government and have mutated into activities beyond drug trafficking, such as agriculture, mining, and transportation; they control strategic and critical infrastructure, such as major ports and even customs.
Various criminal actors have control over Mexico’s largest seaports, including Lázaro Cárdenas, Manzanillo and Veracruz, from where they operate their smuggling activities.
China’s geopolitical influence has long worried Washington, but the impact of Chinese criminal organizations is a growing problem across the region. These criminal groups have supplied the Mexican cartels with much of the chemical precursors used to make fentanyl and other synthetic drugs.
Efforts to attack drug cartels within Mexico have been unraveled by a breakdown in cooperation between law enforcement and the armed forces in both countries. Two main causes explain the discontinuity: the fear of the Mexican counterpart for the repercussions that the work with the DEA may have within Mexico and the unprecedented arrest of General Cienfuegos Zepeda, who resented the availability for a joint work.
Por: Dra. Maria Grazia Labellarte
When we talk about “narcotráfico”, do we talk about drug trafficking or about a State?
We necessarily speak of both things at the same time, because there can be no drug trafficking without the State protecting, tolerating or covering up by action in most cases or by omission in some cases.
If drug trafficking is defined only as a drug problem, the problem has a commercial and economic profile, because it deals with the production, trafficking and consumption of illegal substances. It has (or should have) an impact on public health policies because it involves problematic consumption. In general, the issue is taken this way by the authorities and consequently they elaborate security policies to persecute traffickers, consumers and producers, much less launderers. In Argentina, for example, international drug trafficking is an economic criminal offense, falls under the jurisdiction of Customs and is conceptualized as aggravated contraband.
If drug trafficking is defined as a problem related to the State, it is consequently considered a political problem, one of corruption, low democratic quality, and State capture. It is no longer a simple crime / delinquent logic but a complex, rational and routine.
What do we mean by consumer market? Consumption of drugs? And what characteristics do consumer markets have?
Consumer market and drug use are different concepts. Drug use falls within the realm of personal preferences or addictions and is eventually a public health problem. Of course, it is a universe of complex and broad problems that deserves specialized and focused attention from the State in the area of public health, an aspect to which governments do not dedicate much budget and do not have human resources that make up a suitable critical mass. to deal with the issue.
When we speak of the consumer market we refer to a hierarchical structure, with established rules of the game, with a balance between supply and demand and armed territorial control. It is a security problem and a political problem. Certain areas of the cities fall under the control of organized gangs, drug distributors within a certain radius, with a diversified structure of roles and commands and with a certain power to co-opt and corrupt the police and political authorities.
Homicides are the routine forms of criminal sanction, disputes for territorial control and political dispute with the government.
Does drug trafficking have the capacity to create «geographies»?
While the national State is the “natural” recipient of the national geography through the Constitution, it ‘ s been losing a certain capacity to be the monopoly creator of the national geography.
In inhospitable or hostile geographies, far from the center of power and where state control is less present, drug trafficking has the capacity to create viable geographies, with economic sense and political integration. In those distant geographies and later in the cities, organized crime was taking over control in certain territories, not necessarily large ones.
This is the case of southern Colombia in Nariño and Putumayo, on the northern border of Ecuador. Or in the Sierra de Guerrero, in Michoacán and in the Mexican hot land. Or in the relationship between Yacuiba and Salvador Mazza, in northern Argentina. In these areas, many times bordering, the link between organized crime, human trafficking and drug trafficking is closer, although not necessarily associated.
Can the geopolitical characteristics of Brazil, Mexico and Colombia in each country determine specific behaviors of drug trafficking organizations?
Drug trafficking behaves “geopolitically”: it offers “human meaning” to the geographies it encounters. This is the case of the Brazilian, coastal and intricate geography, which has given rise to cartels by cities and organizations by favelas, due to the isolation of the national territory. It was only when the government, with its policy of hitting and investing, managed to some extent to remove the cartels from control over the favelas in Rio de Janeiro, the Comando Vermelho migrated to other cities. The same happened with the PCC – First Command of the Capital in São Paulo when the government regained some control over the prisons, the streets and the police corporations and the PCC migrated to other cities. For this reason, homicide indicators decreased in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo and increased in other cities in the interior of Brazil.
In Colombia, where the Andes mountain chain divides the country into three large regions, politically little communicated with each other, the cartels are also by cities. This is how the Cali Cartel and the Medellín Cartel emerged. In Mexico, the cartels are places with a great capacity for expansion due to the difficulty of the central power to expand its power far beyond the central plateau, each one based in the buffer zones (Guerrero, Michoacán, Chihuahua) and with a market of production (poppy and marijuana) on the Pacific coast behind the Sierra Madre Occidental (Sinaloa, the Golden Triangle and the Sierra de Chihuahua). On the Atlantic coast of the Sierra Madre Oriental there are no arable spaces and there are no signs. The Mexican geography, nestled between deserts to the north, mountains to the west-east and jungle with rivers in the south, is full of nooks and crannies to hide and places suitable for insurgency and crime (Chihuahua and Guerrero are home to both.
Is drug trafficking an international «threat» yet? And what about financing International Terrorism?
The pandemic produced a withdrawal of the internationalization capacity of drug trafficking due to border blockades and confinement, but drug flows were rearranged and recovered, although the change implied an increase in consumption within each country.
Drug trafficking continues to be a major international threat for various reasons. First, because of its necessary capacity to integrate circuits of corruption of the quality of democratic life; second, by the internationalization of the hitman and commission crimes in other countries; third for the financing of commercial and economic activities with illegal money and fourth for the provision of liquid money to economies or companies in crisis.
Regarding international terrorism, rather than financing of international terrorism, it would be appropriate to speak of financing of international terrorism, because terrorist organizations on various occasions enter into drug trafficking as a way of financing their terrorist activities, not as an external “supplier” or financier. This is what happened with the FARC, which entered the Colombian drug trafficking market to finance its war economy.
The shift of drug trafficking towards the production of synthetic drugs (fentanyl, amphetamines) to the detriment of cultivated drugs (marijuana, cocaine, heroin) gives drug trafficking a better margin of maneuver to recycle and maintain itself.
Can you define and explain the definition of the “Failed State” ?
The failed state is a widely disseminated concept in academic and political literature. It refers to the State that has lost or has seen seriously diminished the capacity to satisfy the basic functions of the State, especially that of giving security to its citizens and sustaining its own survival capacity, so that it becomes a threat to the international community. The existence of armed insurgent groups that seriously destabilize governance, the inability to unite national differences and lead dissolving rivalries of national unity, governments in insoluble conflicts with a large part of the international community, governments that protect terrorist organizations, etc.
Despite its diffusion and use, the failed state concept suffers from being an omni-explanatory and diffuse concept, capable of being used for any situation with categories that fall within the detailed ones. It is better to analyze the state and establish indicators on various parameters (democratic quality, freedom of the press, political prisoners, political parties, poverty, GDP per capita) to make diagnoses on the state’s situation, moving away from the labeling approach so characteristic of the idea of the failed State.
How much will Biden’s New Foreign Policy affect drug trafficking in the Mexican area?
Officials of the new American government stated that key aspects of both countries’ fight against drug trafficking are not working and that the United States is open to seeking new strategies.
Mexican cartels are intertwined at the three levels of government and have mutated into activities beyond drug trafficking, such as agriculture, mining, and transportation; they control strategic and critical infrastructure, such as major ports and even customs.
Various criminal actors have control over Mexico’s largest seaports, including Lázaro Cárdenas, Manzanillo and Veracruz, from where they operate their smuggling activities.
China’s geopolitical influence has long worried Washington, but the impact of Chinese criminal organizations is a growing problem across the region. These criminal groups have supplied the Mexican cartels with much of the chemical precursors used to make fentanyl and other synthetic drugs.
Efforts to attack drug cartels within Mexico have been unraveled by a breakdown in cooperation between law enforcement and the armed forces in both countries. Two main causes explain the discontinuity: the fear of the Mexican counterpart for the repercussions that the work with the DEA may have within Mexico and the unprecedented arrest of General Cienfuegos Zepeda, who resented the availability for a joint work.