Narcoland: The Mexican Drug Lords And Their Godfathers 1st Edition

It certainly goes without saying that S. Anabel Hernandez must be applauded with highest accolades for her courage and commitment in shedding light on how the so tragic and deeply devastating 'fake' War on Drugs has been upon all the innocents of society. As Americano del Norte feels a wasting away from the ever increasing drug menace, Mexico is on the front lines of the battle being the middle men in the equation via the Americano del Sante source and producers of Coca. As colusion between Governmente and Narco trafficos go, one realizes that U.S. Govt is clearly complicit as well in aiding and abbeting this criminal activity but the story is told from the Mexican perspective. A most terryfying and sobering account. I pray for the end of it all to come soon and be resolved peacefully, but it seems that only miracle intervention would answer! I purchased this book knowing from our own U.S. 'fake' Wars on D's ' et al... without having had a need for all the details But I sincerely hope that most of the money we spent purchasing this book will in fact return to help support the author. She is one brave Senorita! This is as lucid and as close to the battle that I hope you'd ever be. When you read it, you too will sense that it is true. S. Heranadez is a dedicated, thorough and professional journalist, par excellance. How she has managed under the circumstances is incredible. She writes well and gives many details that only a professional would be able to glean or find. My heart breaks for the entire population of our collective lands as the events told here continue to unfold. May the Eternal one bless and protect you Anabel, I'm just sorry you have had to write about such a horrific thing, but it is one that affects everone of of in the Western world directly. Highly recommended, not for the feignt of heart!

I am in awe of the courage it took for Anabel Hernandez to write this book. She put her life on the line, and I only hope she has taken every measure to protect herself from harm. She is naming names, dates, and getting the real story of what is happening in Mexico and the U.S. to protect these cartels. The only problem is that it is impossible for anyone not familiar with all of the similar names to keep up with all the players and their families. I found myself skimming through to get the essence of what is happening, paying more attention to the stories and the familiar names and places to get the essence of what has taken place and how all of this grew so enormous and protected, and most importantly to me, what is being done about it (nothing).I had heard about this book, and, since my husband and I are retiring to San Miguel in the state of Guanajuato next year, and for the 20 years we have been visiting, found it to be safer than Houston, thought I would read this book to see for myself what all the fears are about. It is truly alarming to see that the corruption goes all the way up to the every Mexican President since Vicente Fox to today. Not just ignoring what is going on in their country, but actively profitting from it (an estimated $40 million to Fox) and protecting the cartels. Now, my question is, since the evidence, the story, and the names are out in the open, will anything be done? Will the Mexican people that are not involved in this corruption finally do something about it, and will our own government actually use this knowledge to conduct an EFFECTIVE war on drugs?

Last year I read several books, fiction and non fiction, about the drug war. I found much of the fiction borrowed from Narcoland. The fictional characters were often composites of actual drug lords and used the nicknames of the real people. I was utterly amazed at the level of corruption within the Mexican government and to a lesser degree the US govt. Every level of govt from the local police force all the way up to the office of the president. When money doesn't work, extreme violence is employed. The disturbing level of violence used at the slightest provocation is nearly inhuman. It's hard to comprehend. There's so much money involved, I'm not sure what the solution is. This book is a great read if you're interested in the real facts. For a great fiction read on the subject, check out Don Winslow's, Cartel.

Gosh I was overwhelmed with names and more names. Way too much detail. I wanted something a bit more readable. Gave up after a few chapters

Great book came on time as promised !

Too many names in the book to remember throughout

Very Happy A***********

Beautifully written. Deeply documented. Frightening and disturbing. A must.Thanks Mrs Hernandez for your courage and bravery.Is there hope for Mexico?

Extremely interesting book. Have been looking forward to reading it.

Disturbing story of how Mexico is for all intents and purposes is a narcocracy, which begs the question, why don't the western democratic states declare it as a rogue state? Totally commend Ms. Hernandez for her courage and bravery to tell this story at great personal peril.

What an amazing book! Simply courageous work by Anabel Hernandez

Despite the pedigree, I found the book to be poorly structured and lacking flow. The english was hard to read at best, she never seemed to find a rhythm, it feels choppy and forced. The book also jumps around chronologically, combined with the large amounts of people introduced and discussed (often unnecessarily), make it very difficult to follow at times.Overall a decent read, certainly not the definitive book on the subject matter though, and one I will not dwell on for long.

Non è un granché...è proprio scritto male, non è accattivante

This isn't an easy book to read, although it might be if you're Mexican, or know the country intimately, in which case many of the characters would be known to you.However it is well written, not badly written as many reviewers here and on Amazon.com have claimed. It is however written in a style which perhaps owes something to the Spanish language or way of speaking, and it takes a little while to get into the swing of it. However if you can't handle that you're never going to get anything from a serious book anyway.In fact this is a careful, comprehensive and very carefully put together history of the drug business in Mexico, with its connections to many other Central and South American countries, and also of course the good old USA, with a starring, perhaps even leading role for the CIA.Having said all that I read the first third of this book carefully and then started to skip because I simply don't need this much information. But for anyone who wants or needs to know chapter and verse on the characters involved, and the way it all stacks up it is invaluable.I have read several books on the drug wars including the remarkable 'Dark Alliance' by Mark Webb and 'Amexica' by Ed Vuillamy. This book however, being written by a Mexican has far more detail in the Mexican experience than they do especially in showing how by the mid 1980s the drug business was being run by the drug cartels but in equal partnership and with the total protection and connivance of the Mexican government.Hernandez also gives chapter and verse of how the cartels received a massive shot in the arm, to say the least, from the CIA, acting illegally, against the instructions of Congress but with encouragement from President Reagan. Reagan ensured the cartels were given carte blanche to export drugs to the USA in return for them supplying arms to the Contras so that they could fight political parties like the Sandanistas which Reagan viewed as Communist.She also gives an account of John Kerry's report into the Contra affair, which implicated the CIA and which, although she doesn't say this, was obstructed in every way possible by the American establishment and then ignored by the press when it was finally published.I have never read such a profound and detailed study of corruption in government as this book. The author, who I heard speak not long ago when her book was published, is to be congratulated.

ok

Exhaustive research from a lady who will be in hiding for the rest of her life. The contents of this book are chilling and very sad for those of us who love Mexico. This book shows the corrupting power of drugs on the nation state itself. It should be called the war for drugs, not the war on drugs.

This was a compelling book to read. Unbelieveable content of unrelenting depth of research.Her bravery and courage are astonishing. If there is a Nobel prize for Journalism, she deserves it.

incredible