I was more than a little skeptical about the the curious affair of Sean Penn and the “drug lord” Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. None of it makes sense. I read an interview with Penn by Charlie Rose. My stereotype of Penn is that he is a man who drinks too much and can’t think very well. But he comes off well in the interview. My stereotype of Rose is that he is arrogant, and that like all American journalists basks in the glow of his own admiration, suffering from supreme stupidity. That was affirmed.
To set the backdrop, one needs to understand a few things:
- There are no white hats and black hats in the world drug trade. There are only black hats.
- Mexico and the United States are not two separate countries. Each is run by oligarchs, and each has a puppet civilian government. The oligarchs have no use for borders, so at high levels there is cooperation on matters like immigration, trade agreements, and drugs.
- The DEA is not interested in stopping the world flow of drugs. They don’t chase and jail bad guys. The drug trade is run by the intelligence agencies of the world. DEA chases, jails and kills competition.
Piece of Mindful 