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Up Front

The bloody and bi-national drug war reminds us that Mexico and the United States are guilty of the same sin: idolizing, through popular culture, the very drug traffickers that authorities in both countries now want to destroy.

Recently, Forbes magazine raised eyebrows by designating as the world’s 701st richest person one Jorge “El Chapo” Guzman. Alongside telecom moguls and dot.com tycoons stood the reputed head of the Sinaloa drug cartel, someone the magazine claimed is worth in the neighborhood of $1 billion. Given that Mexican President Felipe Calderón has gone “all in” with his war against people like Guzman and the cartels they manage, several Mexican officials—including Calderón—were understandably furious at Forbes and the rest of the U.S. media for glorifying criminals and killers.
But the Mexicans were vulnerable to the countercharge that they were being hypocritical because they too have had this fascination with the rogue, the rebel, and the outlaw.
In 1847, when the United States, intoxicated by Manifest Destiny, invaded Mexico, the Mexicans put their hopes for revenge in scofflaws such as Juan Cortina in Texas and Joaquin Murrieta in California. Many years later, the heroes of the Mexican Revolution were rebel insurgents Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata. While heroes to the Mexican people, in the eyes of Mexican president Porfirio Díaz, they were outlaws. Today, the romance surrounds the narcos, who inspire corridos (folk ballads) and play Robin Hood by blanketing poor villages with groceries, toys, clothes and other handouts. You wonder why townspeople are so reluctant to help authorities nab drug traffickers. It isn’t just fear. It’s also loyalty.
So who are the Mexicans to criticize the Americans for doing what they’ve been doing for generations? But then, goes the counter-countercharge, what right do the Americans have to criticize the Mexicans when they do the same thing?
After all, the United States was settled by a band of illegal immigrants who arrived on the Mayflower. The Republic was founded, during the American Revolution, thanks to rebels and scofflaws. Or did you think the act of tossing tea into Boston Harbor was lawful, in the eyes of the British Crown? In the 19th century, in the Wild West, we celebrated outlaws and gunslingers—from Billy the Kid to Jesse James to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. And in the 20th Century, our fascination turned to gangsters such as Bugsy Siegel, Charlie “Lucky” Luciano, and, of course, Al Capone.
Even today, we still make movies about those people. In fact, Johnny Depp plays bank robber John Dillinger in this summer’s Public Enemies. And yes, we even sometimes romanticize drug traffickers. There’s Al Pacino in Scarface and the 1980s hit TV show more recent feature film, Miami Vice where the two stars spend most of their lives working undercover and impersonating drug dealers.
Need we wonder why so many American kids use drugs, and why some even aspire to drug dealing as a career path—with Hollywood’s emphasis on the money, fast cars and beautiful women that come with that life? And need we wonder why, across the border in Mexico, scores of teenagers are being lured into the world of narco-trafficking with its promise of fast money, adrenaline rushes and instant respect?
It’s not all Hollywood’s fault. It comes back to parenting. But parents have powerful and evil forces pushing in the opposite direction. It’s no wonder that, even when engaged, they sometimes fail.
Sure, goes the voice in a teenage mind, why not become a drug dealer—especially in Mexico. You make money. Buy shiny toys. Watch people cross the street out of fear when you walk by. Are glorified in the U.S. media. Become important. One day, they might even write a corrido about you. And hey, maybe they’ll play it at your 21st birthday party. Or, in a more likely scenario, at what will precede it: your funeral.

Ruben Navarrette ,Jr. is a regular columnist for Hispanic magazine, an editorial board member of the San Diego Union-Tribune, a nationally syndicated columnist with the Washington Post Writers Group, and a weekly commentator at CNN.COM. Contact him at
www.rubennavarrette.com