The Master of His Universe

There are many words for the Sochi games, none of them flattering. It’s hard to watch these elite athletes compete more against the weather than each other. Moreover, it’s just wrong, given how hard these people have worked for the opportunity to be here. But none of that matters to the man who orchestrated this fiasco, Vladimir Putin. These have been dubbed Putin’s Games for good reason. Everything has been done to suit his purposes, and the world will never know what those really are. Documentaries report back that the level of corruption is staggering, even by Russian standards.

Since the fall of Communism and the Berlin Wall back in 1990, Russia has become a wild-west, ruled more by criminal elements than actual government processes. Dreams of prosperity and democracy, a better life for the common man, have remained pretty much that. Dreams. Those who have the money or the power, or ideally both, make the rules and reap the rewards in the new state. The KGB had no trouble finding new employers. And more than ever, the Russian Mafiya is everywhere.

Welcome to Putin’s world. And he knows it well, given that this is his third term as President. That kind of longevity is no small feat for any political leader. Evidently, Putin thrives in times of chaos. Utilizing his former KGB background, and his years of experience in Russian politics, He was quick to get his house in order during his terms, exiling and imprisoning those who stood in his way, forcing others to yield to his will. And though critics declared his reforms and methodology as harsh, undemocratic and authoritarian, that was what it took to manage the disparate elements of the New Russia. Putin is no political pushover. He neither needs nor wants the United States and as such has been no friend to Western interests, as proven out by the crisis in Syria.

As events unfold in the Ukraine, it is clear there are Russian interests to be served. He does not care what the world thinks of him; he has held the reins of control far longer than other world leaders; he has blatantly used the Sochi games to further his other interests with impunity. Putin is not a puppet but a puppet-master. To underestimate his intent or the forces he commands would be disastrous. For all we think we know what Putin’s endgame might be regarding Kiev, we need to think again.

Oh Mexico

Back in 2012 I started actively chronicling events in Mexico, as I researched my novel series. What struck me was how little of those events filtered up to mainstream Canadian and US newscasts. The rare reports of murders typically centered on tourists. More importantly, the story behind the story was not being told.

The awful truth was that the death toll in Mexico was equivalent to that of a warzone, particularly in cartel hotspots along the USA-Mexico border, like Juarez, which held the dubious distinction of being the most deadly city in the world. The tragedy came in who died in the slaughter: law enforcement officers, journalists, and ordinary citizens caught in the crossfire of a battle for control over Mexico by the cartels.

In North America, our impression of organized crime has largely been formed by what we watch in movies and on television. “The Godfather” and Tony Soprano make the Mafia more palatable, even appealing. Of course, there is also the Russian Mafiya, again made dangerously attractive through feature film and television, and Asian triads. But the Mexican cartels have no such hold over us, and have had relatively little exposure until recently. For the most part, the face of the Mexican cartels belongs to Juan Guzman, “El Chappo”, head of the Sinaloa cartel and a legendary crime figure. One only has to hear the stories of how he escaped prison in a laundry hamper; closed restaurants and rewarded the patrons there by buying their meals; and though everyone knows of his stronghold in Mexico, has never been found.

The reality is that Sinaloa has been the most powerful cartel in Mexico, under Guzman’s indisputed control. He directs the decisions and actions of countless high-ranking officials in politics and law enforcement, including the military. But the balance of power changed in 2010 when the Gulf Cartel splintered, and their armed enforcement component, Los Zetas, struck out on their own. Cutting a swath of violence across the country, these highly trained assassins sought to take their share, and more, of Mexico. And that meant taking control away from both the Gulf Cartel and Sinaloa. At stake were the lucrative border cities of Laredo and El Paso, where the vast majority of drugs were transported into the US. Also at stake was the Pacific coastline, where shipments of precursor chemicals used to make meth were coming in via boatloads from China. Control of the drugs meant control of the country.

In 2006, ex-president Phillipe Calderone declared war on the cartels, combatting them directly with police and the military. But he failed to appreciate the reach of the cartels, or how widespread, systemic corruption had made its way through all levels of government and into law enforcement and the military, making control by the cartels inevitable and devastating. Calderone’s efforts were the equivalent of throwing kerosene on a fire. Cartel reprisal was swift and merciless: entire families paid for the sins of the fathers. No one wanted to work in law enforcement. Journalists reported on anything but cartel activity. Even political officials who refused to accept a bribe met the same fate. There were mass graves; bodies hung from overpasses with crudely-made banners or “narcomantas” declaring victory and control one of the cartels.

Across the border from the United States, a country was being consumed by violence and crime at a scale unimaginable. Yet there was almost no news coverage. And what struck me was how vulnerable the rest of North America was. Because the reach of the cartels crossed the border with every shipment of drugs, extending their control into the supposedly safe and secure bastions of the US and Canada.

Keeping Watch

The Sochi Olympics are set to open and the eyes of the world are focussed on Russia. As well they should be, since neighbouring Ukraine is demanding our attention. Nobody wants to detract from the glorious spectacle of the Olympics. It is a celebration of things we wish really were, and for that brief fleeting moment they are, as athletes parade in and nations compete for medals, not control.

But what is unfolding in the Ukraine is ugly, and scary, and something history has visited upon us repeatedly. Since its independence in 1990, economic prosperity and political development have been hampered by recessions and rampant corruption. This is nothing new to Russia or the region. Even the drama for control between Victor Yanukovytch and Yulia Tymoshenko typified the way in which politics have always been conducted.  What is different is that Ukraine is now a country of divided loyalties, torn between its history and bond with Russia, and its yearning to join the EU. Leaving the past behind to move ahead, progress.

These are the divisions that can drive a nation to civil war. Given the Ukraine’s recent history, these events remind me far too much of how quickly and violently Yugoslavia slid into the horrific war that ripped apart a modern, beautiful country. The world watched the aftermath of that. The brutal legacy of Bosnia and Sarajevo still live on.  I know Putin is watching, very carefully. Which means the rest of the world needs to be on watch as well.

What I Write and Why

You’ll find a lot of my blog entries will be about Mexico, and specifically about the major drug cartels and their battle for control. I’ve been writing a series about a DEA agent up against a Colombian drug lord that takes them into the no-man’s land of Mexican cartels. They say “write what you know” which meant I had to do a whole lot of research. I never set out to be come a SME in this field but there were so many tangents that begged me to follow them, so many voices of the dead to be heard and recorded. It’s definitely not a subject for the faint of heart. It’s scary business. Which is why you will also find my posts about the journalists who risk their lives to cover these stories, and why I carry their stories further.

In the battleground of Mexico, freedoms we take for granted, the freedom of speech and of the press,  have been taken from the people by the cartels. Mexico is considered the most dangerous place in the world for journalists, because to write a story about the cartels, to honestly cover and report on their dealings, is to write your own death warrant. Journalists and their families are hunted down and murdered for reporting on the cartels. This is very real, and impossible for the country to fight from within. One story that caught my attention just over a year ago (from an article by Chivis Martinez in Borderland Beat) was about a young Mexican journalist who went missing since January with her young son. Stephania Cardosa didn’t cover stories about narcotics or cartels, however. Her beat was mundane. Mostly traffic issues. And yet, she appeared to have been selected to send a message. “She is a crime reporter, but I could not find any articles with narco crimes or narco activity as her subject. Many were of traffic accidents … after unsuccessful attempts to reach Cardoso, her family went to her home to check on her. When they arrived at the home they discovered Cardoso and her toddler son were missing. The home had been thrashed, with her belongs scattered about and her camera broken on the floor. Her vehicle is also missing.”  http://www.borderlandbeat.com/

An update to the story by reporter Chivis Martinez revealed Stephania and her son were alive but in hiding, and in fear for their lives. In the update, he said of Cardosa  “She knows that many people are concerned for them, but for their safety she cannot communicate with anyone nor her family. She asks the Federals of Mexico for protection not only for her and her son but for her family.”  For all the Stephanias out there, thank you. We’re watching. We’re reading.