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11/15/11: El Narco - Inside Mexico's Criminal Insurgency

On Tuesday, Doug talks with journalist Ioan Grillo about the rise of the Mexican drug cartels. The cartels--fueled largely by guns smuggled from America, and by our hunger for drugs--have grown so powerful they arguably trump the country's government for supremacy in Northern Mexico. And their virulent and ruthless violence increasingly reaches north of the border. In El Narco, Grillo draws a sweeping portrait of Mexico's drug war, America's liability in it and what might be done to fix things.

Check out some classic "narcocorridos," Mexican songs about narco culture that evolved out of the popular norteno folk corrido tradition.

"Jefe de Jefes" by Los Tigres del Norte. Ioan Grillo says the song is one of the most famous narcocorridos of all time.

"118 Balasos" by Valentin Elizalde.

"El Papa de Los Pollitos" by Los Tuacanes de Tijuana.

 

Books and music from today's RadioWest:

 

Doug Fabrizio has been reporting for KUER News since 1987, and became News Director in 1993. In 2001, he became host and executive producer of KUER's RadioWest, a one hour conversation/call-in show on KUER 90.1 in Salt Lake City. He has gained a reputation for his thoughtful style. He has interviewed everyone from Isabel Allende to the Dalai Lama, and from Madeleine Albright to Desmond Tutu. His interview skills landed him a spot as a guest host of the national NPR program, "Talk of the Nation." He has won numerous awards for his reporting and for his work with RadioWest and KUED's Utah NOW from such organizations as the Society of Professional Journalists, the Utah Broadcasters Association, the Public Radio News Directors Association and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.