WORLD & NATION
WWW.GUILFORDIAN.COM
Authorities apture
drug cartel kingpin
BY MAILE MUNRO ^
Staff Writer
Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, head of the
notorious Sinaloa Cartel, evaded authorities
for 13 years after escaping from a high-security
prison in the state of Jalisco, Mexico.
However, on the morning of Feb. 22, Guzman
was captured by a team of Mexican marines
and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
while sleeping at a condo in the tourist paradise
city of Mazatlan.
Later that afternoon, Mexican President
Enrique Pena Nieto took to Twitter and
thanked the Federal Mexican Police along with
a handful of organizations for their roles in the
capture.
Since taking office, Nieto has assumed more
responsibility in the joint Mexican-American
efforts to ending the war on drugs. Authorities
worked together to capture the man who,
according to The Washington Post, supplied
more illegal drugs to the U.S. than anyone else
in history.
Guzman, 55, is one of the oldest drug kingpins.
His commitment to creative smuggling tactics
contributed to his success in running arguably
the most successful drug cartel in the world.
In one respect, he's a businessman. An
extremely successful businessman.
"If you take the violence out of the drug
business, it's just a business," said Jerry Joplin,
professor of justice & policy studies.
"He provided jobs," said Sanjay Marwah,
assistant professor of justice & policy studies.
"He's an employer."
His success placed him 67th on Forbes' list of
the world's most powerful people — ahead of
The New York limes' executive editor and the
vice chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Guzman is responsible for transporting
an estimated 50 percent of the illegal drugs
imported into the U.S. His main hub is in
Chicago, where he has been named Public
Enemy No. 1.
According to the FBI's press release
pertaining to the 2009 indictment of Pedro and
Margarito Flores, distributors in the Sinaloa
Cartel, Guzman imported between 1,500-2,000
kg. of cocaine into Chicago every month.
The New York limes reports that Guzman
masterminded transportation strategies that
involved catapulting bales of marijuana
over border fences, building the first tunnels
underneath the U.S.-Mexico border and
opening a cannery that packed cocaine into
cans labeled "Comodre Jalapenos."
While Guzman is currentiy being held in an
underground cell in Mexico's Altiplano prison,
U.S. authorities indicate corruption in Mexico
and Guzman's escape from prison in 2001 as
reasons to extradite the drug lord to one of
seven districts in the U.S. that could try him.
Despite the increasing number of calls from
the U.S., Guzman has yet to be extradited.
As injunctions lengthen the process, many
wonder: will this single arrest make a lasting
impact on the war on drugs?
Some hope that Guzman's imprisonment will
begin to dismantle the Sinaloa Cartel. Others
believe that, as long as demand is present, drug
cartels will continue to take extraordinary risks
to make a profit.
"You take down one kingpin ... there's going
to be three or four others fighting to succeed
and take over," said Robert Duncan, visiting
assistant professor of political science.
Capitalism destn^ indigenous iands
BY REBECCA DOU
Staff Writer ‘
Although many people consider
Western development integral to the
world's progression, many tribal groups
argue that some attempts at development
result in driving society backwards.
Members of the Dongiia Kondh tribe in
India have been forced to change their way
of life after the mining company, Vedanta
Resources, demolished the tribe's land to
extract precious minerals.
"It's crazy when these outsiders come
and teach us development," said tribe
member Lodu Sikaka, according to
Survival International. "You have to pay
to take a bath, for food and even to drink
water. In our land, we don't have to buy
water like you, and we can eat anywhere
for free."
In addition to drastic changes in their
lifestyles, many tribes face threats of
starvation, obesity, AIDS and addiction.
Alienated and overcome by cultural shock,
their members often turn to suicide.
Over the course of one year, 56 Guarani
natives committed suicide in response to
ranchers seizing their land.
'The Guarani are committing suicide
because we have no land," said Rosalino
Ortiz of the Guarani tribe in Brazil,
according to Survival International. "We
don't have space anymore. In the old days,
we were free. Now, we are no longer free.
So, our young people look around and
think there is nothing left and.ysronder how
they can live."
While each tribe has its ov^Ainique
culture and development issues, a longing
_.r-
India
Dongria Kondh
tribal land
Guarani
tribal land
(Above) Members of the Dongria Kondh tribe protested bauxite mining at Niyamgiri Hill in
India. (Below) These maps of India and Brazil illustrate where these tribal people reside.
for freedom unites tribes to encourage
preservation of their rich cultures. If this
freedom is taken from them, a piece of
diversity will be removed from the world.
"Instead of introducing problems and
seeing how we could resolve one tenth of
these problems, ,we should be conscious
of the importance of this diversity and
the importance of these different ways
of life," said author Oren Ginzburg in a
phone interview with The Guilfordian.
Ginzburg's most famous work, "There You
Go!" is a satire that offers a novel approach
to understanding development and its
impact on indigenous peoples.
Junior Delaney Williams agrees with
Ginzburg.
"I think this issue really relates to one
of Guilford's core principles: diversity,"
said Williams. "We need to maintain
individuality. Having all these types of
people brings new ideas to the table, so
they can bring issues into a different H^t."
A potential solution to protect this
diversity could be to relay the voices of
these tribes through a mass-distributed
medium. For example, Ginzburg's
2-mmute video adaption of "There You
Go! has reached thousands of viewers
on YouTube and more on the Survival
International website.
Western societies must communicate
with tribes in order to evaluate artificial
changes before relaying tribal concerns to
the broader public.
"It is not that the Yanomami do not
want progress or other things that white
people have, said Davi Kopenawa of the
Yanomami tribe in Brazil and Venezuela,
according to Survival International. "They
want to be able to choose and not have
change thrust upon them."