Eurasia Diary talked with Olivier Acuña, a senior journalist who has been reporting on the drug cartels and influential Narco networks & gangs in Mexico. He was attacked, threaten and jailed. Currently, he is an editor-in Chief in El Caribe News in Mexico.
Eurasia Diary: Being the political analyst what can you say about the current political situation in Mexico?
Olivier Acuña: Since we have Enrique Peña Nieto in office, he has shown a lot of capacities to rule the country. He is the leading member of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) which the ruling party in Mexico that has been in power for the last eighty years. However, only the last two terms in 2000 and in 2012 this party became the most powerful political institution in Mexico. Right now, Enrique Peña Nieto is facing the possibility of the extension due to the corruption scandal that he has been involved. He was involved in the scandal where it was confirmed that a lot of companies received the money from the top drugs traffickers. There has been also a huge outcry about the massive corruption scandals. The most recent failure for him was his decision to invite Donald Trump to Mexico. Everyone knows that Donald Trump has been talking against the Muslim Community and immigration. Everyone was expecting him to ask Donald Trump to apologize for his previous words against Mexicans. But Enrique Peña Nieto failed to do that. I can say that “This guy is “gone”.” After that a lot of experts are talking about the possibility that he can defeat in 2018 election.
Eurasia Diary: Why he invited Donald Trump? Does it mean that he also in favor of building the wall between Mexico and USA proposed by Trump?
Olivier Acuña: I am not really feeling that it is going to happen. I think that Donald Trump was inspired by the successful outcome of Brexit when British citizens voted against EU membership in order to prevent the migrants to come in to UK. Donald Trump trying to do the same in the USA in order to succeed. It is not clear why Enrique Peña Nieto invited him to Mexico.
Eurasia Diary: How do you see the drug carters and corruption which is more common for Mexico?
Olivier Acuña: Drug trafficking has been an issue for very long time. In comparison to the past, it is becoming more public now. People have a trouble with senior workers that they have become so powerful worldwide. I have been researching, investigating in drug trafficking since late 1997. In my opinion drug trafficking has always been very powerful and very impactful in the government. In fact, the book that I am writing is about the crime organized by the government. Government has always stayed behind the issues related to the organized crime.
Eurasia Diary: How do these drug issues impact on the politicians directly?
Olivier Acuña: We have a lot of politicians who are directly involved in drug trafficking. We can start from the top Mario Fabio Beltrones, former governor of Sonora and more recently the president of the ruling party PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) has confirmed that his presidential campaign received hundreds of million dollars directly from Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel who is number 1 drug trafficker in the world. Hence, we see that Mexico is a narco state ruled by drug traffickers. Another politician whose name is Mario Fabiono Trones - few months ago he was gone to be the next president. This person in 1990’s had been already mentioned as one of biggest and most powerful drug trafficker. I think that gives you an idea how drug trafficking stands in Mexico and how it affects impunity and justice. In Mexico we do not have politicians whom you can trust. Sonora is a narco-state, especially because it borders with the U.S. and also with the Golden Triangle of Mexico, where huge amounts of marijuana and poppy plants are grown. Beltrones was recognized as oneof the most powerful drug traffickers in the northwest by drug traffickers themselves. He also shows up in various DEA documents as having very close ties with Sinaloa Cartel, El Chapo Guzman. That is where Peña Nieto derives from- State of Mexico has become a landing territory for much of the cocaine that enters the country. First it was Sinaloa, then Jalisco and now State of Mexico, of course, also souther states that border with Guatemala and Belice, but state of Mexico more strategic because of the powerful groups that protect and benefit from drug trafficking and because of its geographical position, surrounding mexico City and many roads towards many border points.
Eurasia Diary: Being a journalist do you feel any insecurity?
Olivier Acuña: Obviously, being a journalist it is very dangerous here. Me, myself was kidnapped, tortured and in 2006 I was jailed for 20 months because I was revealing all these connections between the government and drugs traffickers.
