A Praise For Drug Trafficking: The Narcocorrido
It is been a while since Mexico got a (sad) reputation for being a drug trafficking paradise. It has (unfortunately) become part of a very rich and strong culture. It has (regrettably) become a strong component of many Mexican’s identity this drug-lifestyle thing.
Its proximity to the world’s greatest drug consumer, the United States, does not help. There is a great deal of money to be made in drugs, especially when your best client is right next to you. Distribution and placing? Piece of cake.
All of Mexico’s issues, as much as not related as they may appear, are somehow related to drugs. Politics, economy and society are highly affected by the drug business. The Narcos — those under the payroll of drug kingpins — fulfill roles even beyond those of their ‘natural’ business.
Many a time, the Narcos serve as a strike force for those business that the polity cannot openly handle. You may have heard about the finding of many bodies of young students who disappeared while protesting for a better education. It is believed that Narcos did the dirty work — which is a very serious allegation, but still the best explanation for all the violence that is overcoming Mexico right now.
Narcos do many things the Government can’t or won’t, even those that are good for the people. Just like Pablo Escobar in Colombia, many Mexican drug kingpins care about their communities. Most Narcos were born in poor homes themselves, and know what it is like to have next to nothing. They know what it is like to be consistently neglected by the Government, so they take the matter into their own hands. They build health care centers, schools and housing for those who cannot afford such ‘luxuries’.
Narcos usually care about their communities, and they are regarded as benefactors. The underprivileged look up to them, because drug kingpins ‘made it big’. Sometimes Narcos are the only role model poor people know. This is how Narcos like El Chapo Guzmán become saints.
First it was Colombia, then it was Mexico. Drug trafficking give back to the poor a little of what they legitimately deserve, but also kills. It is not just the drugs that kill, it is the violence. Did you know that only 25 % of drug-related crimes are because of drug consumption? Only a quarter of the people who dies dies because of an overdose. The rest, the majority, die battling other gangs or the Police.
In my opinion, this is the best argument in favor of decriminalizing drugs. The United States leads a half-assed war on drugs, because it imprisons and confiscates not even remotely as much as it buys. The same happens in Mexico.
As long as drugs are illegal, drug trafficking will exist. If drug trafficking exists, then drugs are here to stay.
Since the very moment when Narcos started being regarded as respected members of the community, drug trafficking became less of a taboo. There is a whole lifestyle behind the drug business, a lifestyle that live even those who do not trade or even consume. In the slums drug sellers are either respected or feared, but everybody knows who they are.
It is not just about the drugs. It is about those who trade it, what they stand for, how they live.
What is the Narcocorrido? It is a musical sub-genre that sometimes celebrates, sometimes critizices the culture of illegal drugs. Its name is a combination of Narco, as in narcotics, and corrido, which means tale. It is a derived form of the Ranchera, the most typical genre in Mexican music.
Los Tigres del Norte are probably the pioneers of the so called ‘drug ballads’. They are from Sinaloa, so you can go figure. In 1989 they released an album called Corridos Prohibidos (Forbidden Corridos), containing songs that where banned from radio because they allegedly glorified the drug culture. However, the Tigres are highly critical towards drug cartels.
Sometimes these ballads are merely descriptive, tales of a reality that is not going to change in the near future. This is a fragment of the lyrics for ‘El Talibán’, a Narcocorrido by Larry Hernández. They call him the Taliban because of the way he kills / he gives the green light / points them where they are / cuts their heads off / that’s why he is where he is.
“le dicen el taliban,
por la forma de matar,
nomas dandole luz verde,
los ubica donde está,
y les corta las cabezas,
por eso esta donde está…”
When a phenomena is so frequent, so omnipresent in our everyday lives, we have to metabolize it somehow. Art and creation are ways of coping with harsh realities and, when the Government is absolutely absent, they are the only ways.
The Narcocorrido may or may not be promoting a dangerous lifestyle, but it has an important function all the same. Art turns death into life, violence into narrative, isolation into communion. People find some kind of solace in this music. Furthermore, the Narcocorrido is a festive sub-genre. Mexicans dance to it, they play it at parties, weddings and even Quinceañeras. They bring joy to those at the bottom of the food chain: the poor, the neglected, the invisible.
Once again, drugs kill. This is not a matter to be taken lightly. But, what can you do when the Government cannot decide which is more convenient — fighting or allowing drug trafficking?
Maybe, just maybe, all you can do is dance.
