Suppressed Voices: Narcotrafficking’s Influence on Daily Mexican Life

Oral Presentation
4:05-4:25 p.m. CDT on April 14, 2021

Narcotrafficking in Mexico has continued to flourish since the late twentieth century. In order to meet the increasing drug demand from the United States, a large number of cartel organizations sprang up across the county. The disastrous and unintended consequences of this trend have well been documented. A surge of drug-related homicides, turf wars between competing cartels, and the continual increase in drug apprehensions alongside the U.S-Mexico border have long been the subject of media coverage. What remains less documented and what this study aims to explore is how the “Mexican Cartel War” has impacted the day-to-day economic, social, and political activities and lives of normal Mexican residents living throughout the country. My investigation, based on my interviews with residents with diverse careers and backgrounds who live in the so-called “dangerous” zones, sheds light on this aspect of the cartel war, which has been heavily overlooked by the mainstream media.

David Torres, Miriam Miller, Olivia Ortiz, Julie Sellers, World and Classical Languages and Cultures

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