Mafias That Rule The World

Transcription

1 B Do you know what the Maras, Barrio 18, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the Zatas, the Knights Templar or the Shower Posse are? Read the first part of the article and find out. The Spectator February 2016 The new mafias that rule the world According to Ioan Grillo s Gangster Warlords we are now all in thrall to Latin America s drug cartels for just about every commodity You may not have heard of the Maras. Or Barrio 18. Or the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or the Zatas, or the Knights Templar, or the Shower Posse. But you should have heard about them, says Ioan Grillo in his new book about transnational drug and crime gangs, because any one of them may have played a profitable and blood-drenched role in bringing you not only your weekend baggie of recreational powder, but also the gold in your earring, the lime in your gin and tonic, the avocado in your salad and even the steel in your Volvo. These gangster warlords are the new century s international mafias. They originate in Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean, although now they have trading subsidiaries everywhere from Bombay to Brixton. It s a business model that brings new force to the word disruptive, based as it is on bribery, torture, murder and ultra-pure crystal methamphetamine. And to date, they are unstoppable. b As far as you know, do these gangs have trading subsidiaries where you live? B Discuss the following questions and then read the next part of the article and check your ideas. 1 What is the illegal drug industry worth annually? 2 How many murders over the last nine years are crime cartels in Mexico responsible for? 3 Why do governments often overstate the size of their drug problems? 4 How was cocaine imported into North America in the early days? 5 How is cocaine imported nowadays? It is next to impossible to estimate accurately the extent of the warlord economy, and the number of lives it has consumed. The UN claims that the total illegal drug industry is worth $320 billion a year. In Mexico alone, government figures show that the crime cartels whose revenues come largely from drugs have been responsible for over 83,000 murders in the last nine years. Although all these figures contain an element of guesswork 1/4

2 (and governments often overstate the size of their drug problems in order to squeeze more war-on-drugs funding from Washington), there is no doubt that since the 1980s something has turned a long-standing problem of localised Latin American gangsterism into a global phenomenon. It started with cocaine. It was cocaine from Colombia and the fabulous profits it generated that built the multi-billion-dollar empires of the Medellin drug cartel, headed by the late Pablo Escobar; the Cali Cartel; and the Norte del Valle Cartel. In the early days cocaine was flown into North America in light aircraft, or bulkshipped direct to Florida, until the Americans wised up. Today that doesn t work: drugs have to be broken down into ever smaller consignments that are smuggled by individuals through a thousand backroad routes. The drugs wind down into Brazil and up through Central America and Mexico, and in the process they have promoted those countries street-corner crews and shakedown artists into fearsome murder machines that eventually get their claws into every part of the economy, from farming to mining. BNowhere is worse affected by the gangs than Mexico. Why do you think that is? Read the next part of the article and find out. Nowhere is worse affected than Mexico. Honduras may have a higher murder rate, the Jamaican gangsters may be madder, the Brazilian favela gangs may be more numerous, but Mexico has the biggest problem and today the problem s name is methamphetamine or crystal meth, the Breaking Bad drug. Crystal meth is terrible stuff. Much more addictive than cocaine and much more destructive (essentially it sends you mad), it is also more profitable, and can be manufactured anywhere there is no law and garage space free which means that it is most likely to be made close to the US border, in Mexico. It doesn t only send its users mad: it does the same to its makers. The result is that Mexico has become infested with one after another gang of loopy, messianic and hyper-violent drug-making cults, and most recently a string of equally violent vigilantes who look little different from the drug gangs they are fighting. Drugs are not the cause of this extraordinary level of violence. They are merely the accelerant. Nowhere are cocaine and crystal meth worth more than in the wealthy suburbs of the United States, but still the US does not have a serious domestic problem with billion-dollar murder syndicates who routinely leave decapitated bodies on the streets. For the crime warlords to flourish you need to start with extreme poverty and a nonfunctioning justice system. Add drug dollars to that mix, and you get Mexico. f Summarise in your own words why Mexico has been affected so badly by the gangs. 2/4

3 b Mafias That Rule The World B Read the final part of the article and find out what the journalist thinks of Grillo s book and what solution Grillo suggests for healing the drug-addicted economies. Grillo is a Mexico-based news reporter, and his book is as haphazardly written as most reporters books. But he has done sterling work on the front lines, from Brazil s broken megacities to the insanely violent garrisons of Kingston, Jamaica. He overstates the international reach of the warlords, and probably the extent of the drug economy in Central and South America as well, but his portraits of gangster societies living beyond law or even reason are starkly persuasive. His rehab programme for healing the drug-addicted economies? Legalise the drugs, of course. That wouldn t do anything to tackle what underlies the drug economy, but at least it would stop adding fuel to the fire. Very sensible and like many obviously sensible things it is also a dream. You might just as well put it in your meth pipe and smoke it. What are the pros and cons of legalising drugs in your opinion? What do you think is the best way of curing the drug-addicted economies? VFind words in the article that mean the following. Section 1 1 giving financial gain 2 a company that is owned by a larger company Section 2 3 income from business activities 4 money that you make from your business after you have paid all your business costs Section 3 5 a group of people or organizations that work together to achieve a particular aim Section 4 6 in a position, especially in an organization or group, where you are doing the hardest work or where you are the most likely to be criticized or attacked VComplete these sentences with the correct form of the words above: 1 are often associated with criminal groups who work together, but they can be made up of legitimate businesses too. 2 The doctors have been of research into tropical diseases. 3 Their increased when they bought their competitor, but their fell because the acquisition cost them a lot of money. 4 We love our business, but it is not very. We don t make very much money. 5 You might not know Beats Electronics, but you will definitely know its owner. Beats Electronics is a of Apple. 3/4

4 E What does the highlighted expression in this extract from the article mean? f The Spectator February 2016 That wouldn t do anything to tackle what underlies the drug economy, but at least it would stop adding fuel to the fire. There are other idioms with fire in English. What do you think these mean? 1 a baptism of fire 2 fight fire with fire 3 get on like a house on fire 4 have too many irons in the fire 5 there s no smoke without fire 6 play with fire 7 set the world on fire 8 hold someone s feet to the fire use against your opponent the same methods he or she is using against you (often used in the negative) do exciting things that bring fame and glory there is usually some truth behind every rumour become friends very quickly have too many things to do at once pressure someone to consent to or undertake something do something dangerous or risky VMatch the idioms to these definitions: a very difficult first experience of something VComplete these sentences with the idioms: 1 Tom and James have only just met, but they seem to be. They haven t stopped laughing and talking for a second. 2 You don t have to. Just do a good job. 3 Although he wasn t convicted of the crime, many people thought and presumed he was guilty. 4 The only way you ll get him to agree is to. 5 If you get involved in an illegal business, you are. 6 Don t work with John. He has a reputation of and not finishing his work on time. 7 On my first day in the job everything that could go wrong did go wrong. It was. 4/4

5 Teacher s notes 1 student pages 4 week of mid-intermediate+ (B2+) VFind words in the article that mean the following. Section 1 1 profitable 2 subsidiary Section 2 3 revenues 4 profits Section 3 5 syndicate Section 4 6 on the front lines VComplete these sentences with the correct form of the words above: 1 Syndicates 2 on the front lines 3 revenues /profits 4 profitable 5 subsidiary E What does the highlighted expression in this extract from the article mean? add fuel to the fire = make a problem worse VMatch the idioms to these definitions: 2 use against your opponent the same methods he or she is using against you 7 (often used in the negative) do exciting things that bring fame and glory 5 there is usually some truth behind every rumour 3 become friends very quickly 4 have too many things to do at once 8 pressure someone to consent to or undertake something 6 do something dangerous or risky 1 a very difficult first experience of something VComplete these sentences with the idioms: 1 getting on like a house on fire 2 set the world on fire 3 there was no smoke without fire 4 hold his feet to the fire 5 playing with fire 6 having too many irons in the fire 7 a baptism of fire