Mexico’s Drug Cartels Are Not Competitors to the State - Bismarck Brief (youtube.com)
$153b in illegal narcotics consumed by Americans per year.
175,000 Mexicans work for cartels. 0.3% of population, under 5% of GDP. Cartels are networks not hierarchies. Most don't have clear hierarchy. Shifting relationships.
US legalized partially marijuana since 2012, so Cartels switched to chemistry from farming. Now main exports are meths and synthetic opiods made in large laboratories. Marijuana is ‘barely profitable’ for cartels now.
Sinaloa is known to be less extremely violent than CJNJ, which helps it retain tacit political support. It provides services like protecting businesses from other extortions (it only is allowed to extort them) and from government trying to get extortion, taxes, bribes. It has solved some kidnappings (hands culprits over to police). It handed out cash payments during the pandemic. It provides grants for schools and churches.
The leaders are often illiterate. They entered the trade to make money, and don't always use drugs or look for violence.
Some (M Gonzales leaders instill codes of conduct on their workers such as not harming women and chidren and not doing drugs.
They don't want to replace government but to be left alone by it. They cooperate with government. They have never been able to survive without cooperating at some level with some parts of officials (kickbacks) and armed (police, military) forces.
It seems people change roles between offical and cartel official.
Cartel officials are frequently killed, but government officials rarely.
Cartels provide one of the most or the most highly lucrative source of funds to top government.
Cartels apologize to US when Americans get killed (rarely) and hand the killers over.
Cartels and government compete for power. In times of scarcity cartels can be exploited for money.
Cartels don't impede political careers. They can be a source (maybe must be?) a way to advance.
Mexico is a coutry of states. The cartels are subservient to the Federal government.
Wagner Group failed in its coup. Maybe cartels think they can't really take power anyway.
Cartels don't threaten US power or geopolitical influence. They're important in how they shape US's relationship with Mexico.
US elites don't oppose drug use, legal or illegal. More the contrary? For this reason, perhaps, if Mexico fought a strong drug war, they would not get US support. But also means that the cartels won't probably last long.
Cartels contribute to Mexico's status as backwater, so it's useful to US in US policy towards Mexico and cartels.
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