Sylvia Longmire's Blog: Mexico's Drug War, page 8

Interview with The Michele Tafoya Show (CBS Radio)

Earlier today, I had the distinct pleasure of being interviewed by NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya for her Minneapolis-based radio show! We talked about my book, the New York Times op-ed I wrote on legalization, and the impact of the drug war in general.

If you'd like to listen to the audio clip (it's about 10 minutes long), here it is:

Michele tafoya 092711

BOOK REVIEW: "To Die in Mexico: Dispatches from Inside the Drug War," by John Gibler

I've really been looking forward to reading this relatively short and new contribution to the growing body of published work on the drug war. Many of my colleagues have read it and said it was great, so my expectations going into it were pretty high...just so you know.

Gibler starts the book off a la Saving Private Ryan, with lots of back-to-back stories of gruesome narco deaths and explanations about the silences that follow them. I particularly like how he details the story of a...

"Mexico gangs send deadly message to social media."

Here is an excerpt from Dudley Althaus' article in The Houston Chronicle:

"Placards left with the tortured bodies of two people hanging from a Nuevo Laredo overpass warn that the same fate awaits social media devotees who keep information flowing by text, Twitter, blogs and other means as gangsters muzzle the news media in much of Mexico. 'This is going to happen to all the internet busybodies,' said one of the notes signed with a Z, presumably for the Zetas gang that controls Nuevo...

"The Double-Edged Sword Of A Mexican Drug Lord's Arrest."

Here's an excerpt from my latest article for Homeland Security Today's Correspondents Watch:

"Over the last year-and-a-half, the Mexican government arrested and killed more top Mexican drug lords than it has in at least the last decade. For an administration that is constantly under fire for a drug war strategy that has failed to significantly reduce violence along the US-Mexico border and beyond, these high-profile arrests are hard-won victories against transnational criminal...

PODCAST: Interview with Josh Schimberg, Executive Director of Texas NORML

In my latest podcast, I had a greatly informative and eye-opening conversation with Josh Schimberg, the Executive Director of Texas NORML (which stands for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), about the legalization of marijuana. We talked about what Texas NORML advocates, how marijuana compares to tobacco and alcohol, and the general attitude in America about marijuana use.

More importantly, we talked about how legalizing marijuana would potentially impact Mexico's...

"The Mexican TCO Threat Has Entered Cyberspace."

Here is an excerpt from my latest article for Homeland Security Today's Correspondents Watch:

"Mexican transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) are no strangers to cyberspace. For the last few years, they've been posting videos of their kidnap victims and rivals being tortured on YouTube. They push propaganda on Facebook and MySpace. They've even learned how to communicate with each other through Twitter to evade the watchful eyes of Mexican authorities. But now they're taking their...

The amazing experience of being filmed for "Brad Meltzer's Decoded"

A couple of weeks ago, I contacted a colleague of mine who's a producer in Los Angeles. She has some contacts at the Discovery Channel, and my initial idea while talking to her was to ask for help with pitching the TV rights to my book to some TV channels. What ended up happening was that she put me in touch with the executive producer of "Brad Meltzer's Decoded" because she knew they were working on something that might involve Mexican cartels. Before I knew it, I was being flown to...

"Calling Casino Attack In Mexico An 'Act Of Terror:' Rhetoric Or Rethinking?"

Here's a excerpt from my latest article for Homeland Security Today's Correspondents Watch:

"One of the worst mass killings in Mexico's drug war history occurred on August 25 in the violence-plagued city of Monterrey. Around 3:00 PM, a dozen men in four cars pulled up in front of the Casino Royale casino lugging several gas cans with them. In less than three minutes, they doused the small casino with gasoline and set the building on fire, killing 52 people in the ensuing blaze. Some...

Attack on Monterrey casino may up the stakes for Calderon's drug war.

Twitter was on fire last night with various reports of an attack on the Casino Royale in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, that killed over 50 people and injured many more. Here's a recent report in The Wall Street Journal: 

"In what Mexican officials have called an "act of terror," a half dozen gunmen burst into a casino in Mexico's industrial capital of Monterrey Thursday, sprayed the place with gasoline, and started a fire in the bingo section, killing at least 53 people. Speaking to Monterrey's...

"The Significance Of Links Between Mexican TCOs And Iraqis In San Diego."

Here's an excerpt from my latest article for Homeland Security Today's Correspondents Watch:

"On August 18, the El Cajon, California Police Department set off alarms with a press release that mentioned an association between the Sinaloa Federation and an organized crime group run by Iraqi Chaldeans. But while the knee-jerk reaction by some might be that this roundup of Iraqi criminals by multiple law enforcement agencies in San Diego County finally provided solid evidence that Mexican...