After listening to the two stories from NPR on drug gangs in Mexico, answer the following questions in the comment section of the blog. Include your first name and last initial at the end of your comment.
1. Which gang represents a greater threat to the Mexican government and why?
2. Which nation has a bigger problem with drug gangs: Mexico or Brazil? Why?
32 comments:
I believe that the Zetas gang is more of a threat because from what I heard from the article, they're very, very dangerous. Also, no one really knows how many there are or which people are part of the gang. They also have a ridiculous amount of firepower. I think that Mexico has a bigger gang problem because it's not just one gang that dominates, and the gangs in Mexico stretch into other countries and threaten a lot more people.
Shahenda H.
I would say that the lafamilia are a bigger threat to the Mexican government because they overall seem to be more organized, more powerful and more of a interferece with the businesses and authorities. I think mexico has a bigger problem with gangs because i think there are more of them in general and they are more dangerous as far as international business deals go because their terrtories are so spread out. Also, the fact that they have so many copycats that are also dangerous creates even more problems.
Jen b
1. I think that La familia is causing more trouble right now because the Zetas are technically gone; these are only copycats that aren't as numberous or as cult-ish. La familia has even developed its own system of government to rival the national one.
2. Mexico is currently having more trouble with drug gangs, mostly because there are so many, and because they are so dangerous. They are getting harder to control.
Megan C
I think the Zetas are a bigger threat because so little is actually known about them, and it sounds like their work outside of the drug business (stealing oil) is pretty dangerous and shows a lot of power. I think Mexico has a bigger problem because the gangs seem more a part of society.
Andrew E
In my opinion the Brazilian gangs represent a greater threat to their government. I feel this way because the Mexican cities still have police forces, some of them may be corrupt, but they're still there. In brazil and especially in the favelas, the police rarely ever dare to enter them. Also the police in brazil only work one day out of four, so they have to get more than one job and because of this they do not care much about their duties as a police officer. In Mexico, there is a mote sophisticated drug traffiking deal going on, but the gangs in brazil control not only some drugs but a lot of the people as well. Between the Mexican gangs, the zetas and la familia, I feel that the zetas are a bigger threat to the government. This is because the zetas have a better ability to use their millitary prowess. But la familia could in the future have a greater influence because they are taking over all aspects of the government and they feel what they are doing is right and probably have a following of many true believers in their cause. Ben E
1. La familia is a bigger threat to the mexican government because they are better organized and they have more influence plus the support of the people. The zetas are a bigger threat to the Mexican people because hey are so violent and dangerous.
2. Brazil has a bigger problem because since he reach of the Mexican gangs reaches so far they will gt help but the brazillians won't.
I think that the Zetas pose much more of a threat than La Familia. This is because they are so mysterious; no one really knows where they are or how many are still around. The report also repeatedly that mentioned that everyone, including the authorities, were genuinely afraid of the Zetas and that they had weapons equivalent to those of a military. The last reason I think Zetas are so threatening because so many people try to copy and commit crimes like them.
I'm also of the opinion that Mexico's gang problem is worse than Brazil's. It seems to me that Mexico has many more gangs and the government can't control them. In fact the report mentioned that many government officials are corrupt and actually abet the gangs.
Katherine P.
I think that the Zetas pose a bigger threat to the Mexican government then do La Familia. The report stated that the Zetas are the most feared gang in the entirety of Mexico. Several reports were heard from the Mexican-Texan border describing the horrors committed by the Zetas and the life paralyzing fear they inflicted onto the population. They have no link to "family values" or spirituality like La Familia does. They are brutal thugs that kill for ideals of rivalry and narcotics trade.
I believe that Mexico has a bigger problem with drug gangs. Even though both countries have serious problems Mexico's is more pressing and threatening. The report stated that over 11,000 people have died in Mexico due to this drug war. I find this number very shocking and incomparable even to the favela killings of Rio de Janeiro. This problem has even affected nearby Texan towns.
Lucas L
The Zeta seems to be more of a threat because the government cannot tell if certain people are legitimate members of the Zeta or if they are just copycats. Less is known about them. The Zeta also cross the boarder and create crime in Texas and Guatamala. This affects Mexico's foreign policy concerns.
Drugs in Brazil seem to be a bigger problem because Mexico has a president and police force who are fighting the drug cartels. The Brazilian police force has simply contributed to the problem. They are more corrupt.
In my opinion the Zetas are more dangerous than la familia. First of all, not only the Zetas have the 'most dangerous reputation and super gangster' the Zetas are armed with enormous amount of weapons. Besides that they involve with international trading such as the making fake import documents for transporting oil. They are very well organized and very secretive about their members' identities. This fact really shows the level of seriousness that they demonstrate their mission to be silent, and deadly.
I believe that the gang related problems in Brazil are more cut-throat than in Mexico. Although, Brazil attempts to bring down the empire of drug traffickers, they always fail and their actions seem to be useless.
Lina C.
1. In my opinion the Zetas seem to be the gang that is more of a threat to Mexico. They are such a mysterious gang and the fact that people cannot even get a rough estimate on how many of them there are makes the situation even worse. Since, no one know's much about them we are not able to get the information on how organized they really are.
2. I think that Mexico has a bigger gang problem because they seem to have more dangerous ranked gangs. The government cannot find a way to control them and some of the government officials are actually involved with some gangs. The drug trafficking also seems to be on a greater scale in Mexico. Mexico has been trying to do everything to stop all of the violence but it does not seem to work.
Scarlet J
I believe that the Zetas are a greater threat to the Mexican government. They are heavily armed and can be compared to a military force. Not only do they traffic drugs but they also involved with kidnapping for ransom, human smuggling, and oil siphoning. The scary thing is that people know this gang exists and that they are dangerous but no one knows for sure who’s in the gang.
I think Mexico has a bigger problem with drug gangs. It seems like Mexico has more of them and the government isn’t sure how many or who is involved. They are even having difficulty keeping them in jail.
Lan-Anh N.
i think the la familia are a bigger threat to the Mexican government because they have a much better influence especially in their community, so the la familia are growing in numbers increasingly more then the zetas. proving that this gang has a higher threat to the government. I think Mexico has the bigger gang problem because gangs are influenced by drugs and their closer to a large buyer of drugs the US.
Brandon Wagstaff
I would say that the Zetas are the more dangerous gang in Mexico for the government. They are very heavily armed, they intimidate the police so much that even Nuevo Laredo's new chief is scared of them and it is not known how many members they have for sure. Although they don't try hard to ingratiate themselves with the local population like La Familia, they are still highly emulated.
Mexico probably has a bigger problem with gangs overall. In Brazil, the gangs control the favelas so completely that the police know for the most part who the ringleaders are and where the gangs have their headquarters. So although it's very hard to capture those leaders, the police know who they are. With a Mexican gang like the Zetas, it's hard to tell who's really in charge. Also, the Brazilian gangs rule over many favelas, but their influence stops at the favela's borders. The Mexican gangs control huge areas and have set up businesses like kidapping rackets in other states as well.
Chad H.
Personally, I believe that the La Familia are far more dangerous than the Zeta's. For starters, La Familia has thousands of members and are willing to murder hundreds for the sake of a single member, depending on importance. When Arnoldo Rueda Medina was arrested, La Familia attacked a police station and tortured and murdered many policemen when they refused to let Medina go. Secondly, La Familia is the largest growing drug traffic cartel with thousands of tons of imported drugs into the United States. It is believed to be the country's largest maker of methamphetamines as well as controlling cocaine production, transportation, and sale in the country. They have spread their borders from merely a drug cartel to such tactics as taxing businesses, pirating DVDs, smuggling people into the US, and a debt-collecting service.
It is even considered that La Familia has many people working for them inside of the government, a few of which have been discovered for taking part in criminal acts for the gang. The one way to bring down a large organization such as a government is from the inside. Even the president stated that the drug cartels has become so bad as to pose a threat to Mexican democracy. And lastly, La Familia is very religious-based. They even have their own Bible, and believe that their crimes and murders are justified ("divine justice") They claim that those people deserve to die, and although this gang may have started out as a group to bring order and help the poor, it has turned into the opposite of its purpose.
On the contrary, the Zetas are indeed very dangerous. However, it is unknown as to who the original 31 members are as well as how many of them are even still alive. Nobody even knows if anyone is in the gang, and the article says that the fake-Zetas pose much of the threat to the country rather than the actual members. Although mystery is an advantage, can one really claim the Zetas to be extremely dangerous when no one can even differentiate the true ones from the impostors?
Mexico definitely has the larger problem with gangs. Although Brazil has many gang problems, Brazil is a large area and many of the gangs are spread out throughout the country. A few gangs might be fighting over a certain city-area, however in relation to the rest of the country a gang tends to not leave said area. For example, a gang in Rio de Janeiro is unlikely to have access to many areas in Brazilia. However, Mexico has access to the border - what every drug cartel wants. Every gang knows the money is in the United States, thus they all try to have the most access to the border into the US to smuggle their drugs. This leaves Mexico with many gangs next to the border and fighting for the same area. Plus, there's the fact that the border in itself is very convenient and useful, thus each of the gangs tends to make a lot more money from the US and have an easier access of escaping the government into the US. Mexican drug cartels are far more well funded, thus more money to produce even more drugs and weapons. Plus, sometimes gang wars are going on close enough to the border that even American civilians can get hurt. This problem affects not only Mexico but the United States as well.
Sara N.
I think that la familia is the bigger threat of the two to the mexican government. They are more involved in society, government, and are deeply rooted into the community unlike the zeta's who are just feared. Combatting la familia will be much more challenging then fighting the zetas.
I believe that Mexico's gang problems are worse then those of Rio's because the gangs are much more organized and rooted in society then rio's gangs which are more of a mess, so many different ones fighting for control. Both countries gangs need to be addressed, because the longer the governments wait, the harder it will be to take out the gangs
Daniel W
I think that the Zetas represent a greater threat to the Mexican government. In the article it said that they are considered as the most dangerous organization in Mexico and most feared. Even though the streets are quiet now it still doesn’t mean that the Zetas won’t come out, they can at any moment. People are still afraid of them; they don’t even want to give out their name if they talk about the Zetas. I believe that Mexico has a bigger problem because they have a lot more gangs then Brazil. Those gangs are putting a threat towards the country and everyone is afraid of them; the government can barley handle this corruption. Throughout all of the Latin countries when someone mentions drugs we first think Mexico.
Jessica Viricochea
I believe that the Zetas gang is more of a threat than La Familia. The Zetas have an air of mystery and elusiveness about them because no one really knows who they are. All the people and the government know is what they are capable of.
I think that Brazil has a larger problem with the gangs though. There are so many people directly or indirectly involved and over such a massive area.
Lexi B
I believe los Zetas are a bigger threat than la familia. Both are very dangerous, but los zetas considered more dangerous because of there weapons and were said to be the most dangerous gang in mexico which is saying a lot. Also it says that people that do not even belong with los zetas say that they are a part of los zetas to put fear in people. It shows how powerful they are and how many of los zetas there are.
I believe that Mexico has a bigger gang problem than Rio. In Rio, there really is one main gang that dominates. In Mexico, there are two main gangs that both want to control Mexico. Also in Mexico, the gangs are more involved in the community with drug, car jackings, and extorsion from business's; more so than in Rio.
David H.
Out of the Zetas and La Familia, I believe La Familia is much more of a problem for the Mexican government. While the Zetas are involved with trafficing, murder, kidnapping, etc, La Familia is where all of these things start (where marijuana is grown, meth is made, etc). La Familia is also extremely rapped up in the politics of Michuacan. Many politicians have been arrested due to ties with La Familia, including a Mexican congressman. The biggest threat to the Mexican government is definetly La Familia because of their ties to the government and the fact that they start all of the bad things that siffon up to the Zetas.
Although Mexico is in a very bad situation with La Familia and the Zetas, Brazil definetly has a bigger problem with their cartels/gangs. They practically run cities within Brazil, whereas the Mexican government is at least trying to curb these cartels. In Brazil, the police run themselves like a cartel, and almost every neighborhood in Rio de Janiero is controlled by one. The heavy influnece of the cartels in Brazil create a much larger problem than that in Mexico because they have set up shop in neighborhoods and become mini government within themselves that could take over cities/the country whenever they please
Max B.
1. I think the Zetas are a greater threat in Mexico. Since nobody is really sure who is part of the real Zetas it is difficult to trace them, so many people have taken on the name of the Zetas and therefore more crimes are being committed because of that gang. Also many of the people in the recording were afraid to speak at all about the Zetas out of fear of being killed.
2.I think Mexico has a bigger problem with drug gangs. It has more gangs that expand all around the country. Mexico also has easier access to the US since it shares its border so it is very easy to sell drugs to US, which puts both Mexico and the US in danger of the gangs.
katri g
I think that La familia is more of a threat than the Zetas because they are a lot more powerful. They are more dangerous and they are known for their violence. I think that more people are scared of them than they are of the Zetas. I also think that Mexico has a bigger gang problem than Brazil. The reason is becase it seems that Mexican gangs are a lot more powerful and more feared. And also they seem to be a bigger threat to the Mexican government than the the gangs in Brazil are to their government.
Sabrina P.
I think that the zeta gang is more of a threat because they have come to affect the US, with their shootings and criminal actions. Also since so many people try to pose like them, there is an increase in violence and plus you can never tell how many true memebers there. Mexico has a biggere gang problem because of all the drug cartels and the fact that the US is right on the border, an increase in drug smugglers is there. Mexico has alot gangs that spread over the whole area as well.
Tachelle Morris :)
I think that the zetas pose the biggest threat because they are the most violent and have very dangerous weapons. They do not even pretend to have community involvement, and their jailbreaks and oil siphoning pose a big problem for the Mexican government. Mexico has a bigger problem with gangs because there are so many of them and the people live in fear. Also the gang violence in Mexico spills into neighboring countries.
I believe that the zetas are a bigger threat to the Mexican government because they are much more violent and they participate in many more illegal activities than la familia. Their activities are much moe dangerous and are even endangering US citizens in Texas. I believe that Brazil has a much bigger problem with gangs because in Brazil, gangs run entire cities such as the favelas in Rio.
Spencer R
I think that the zetas pose the biggest threat because they are the most violent and have very dangerous weapons. They do not even pretend to have community involvement, and their jailbreaks and oil siphoning pose a big problem for the Mexican government. Mexico has a bigger problem with gangs because there are so many of them and the people live in fear. Also the gang violence in Mexico spills into neighboring countries.
Clare t
I think that the Zetas are a much larger threat than La Familia. Not only are they violent and heavily armed, but they also inspire amateurs to imitate them. La Familia is less developed, and while their imitation of a government is unsettling they don't act like a military without laws. However, this is not to say that La Familia could not become equally problematic in the future. The Zetas are elusive, so it is impossible to keep track of their activity, which is made even more difficult seeing as any volunteer for the job probably wouldn't last too long investigating. This said, Mexico definitely has a much worse drug gang issue seeing as their business has expanded far past drugs and killing. Not only this, but Mexico's drug gangs are not exclusive to one area, but throughout the entire country which is not the case in Brazil.
Annie P
I think that the Zetas are a larger threat to the government due to their organization. They are armed with 50 cal sniper rifles along with other weapons, some are ex-military, and they are emulated by many people. I think that Mexico has a bigger problem with gangs simply because they have two major gangs instead of one. This leads to gang warfare and more people being killed.
Hardino Marsigit
I think la familia is more dangerous because seem to be more control of the government and community. They are vey imposing towards the people who live in Mishucan and also are in control of trafficing and extortion. I think Brazil has bigger problems with the gangs because their government dont have much authority over them.
I think la familia is more dangerous because seem to be more control of the government and community. They are vey imposing towards the people who live in Mishucan and also are in control of trafficing and extortion. I think Brazil has bigger problems with the gangs because their government dont have much authority over them.
Halima J
I believe La Familia is a bigger threat to the Mexican government than the Zetas. This is because of the way La Familia operates. There were dozens of local officials were arrested as suspects working for the cartel. They go beyond drug trafficking by also being involved with things such as running kidnapping and extortion rackets. They also show strong opposition to the law by kidnapping federal police officers and killing them as well as braking out their comrades from jail in broad day light. This shows how, as the article pointed out, La Familia mixes politics, spiritualism and violence. The biggest reason why they are the most dangerous to Mexico’s government is because they operate like a government themselves. They force vendors on the street to pay rent in order to stay in business and also, as the article stated, try to impose taxes.
I believe Mexico has a larger problem with gangs than Brazil those. In Brazil the gang’s control is limited to their favelas and they don’t seem to try to hide their actives or leaders. The Brazilian government is given the opportunity of capturing the leaders of the cartels within its country because they are already indentified. While in Mexico this is not the case. The gangs in Mexico seem to extend from its American border to its Guatemalan border, thus operating throughout the entire country. They also seem to have a problem with many gang members being a part of their government to begin with. This corruption within the government makes it even a more pressing issue in the county. Also in Mexico gang wars seem to be a big problem causing a lot of deaths in the country. Along with all of this violence in Mexico there are also gangs that act like governments that could potentially threaten Mexico’s government.
Teddy P.
The comment made on October 6 at 1:18 was me. Sorry I forgot to put my name!
Becca F
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