David McWilliams

30 candidates running in Mexico's 2024 election last year were murdered by the cartels.

For not playing ball.

I mean, the murder rates are extraordinary.

Murders associated with political violence have risen by 356% from 2011 to 2024.

And they're very public as well.

That's the other thing about those murders.

Exactly, because it's to say that I'm the big guy.

Because, of course, there isn't one cartel.

There are many cartels, and those cartels are fighting with each other.

They're fighting with the cops.

They're fighting with the state.

They're fighting with the Americans, the whole thing.

But they're running states within states.

This is the whole thing, and this is why they're a bit like the mafia, is that their idea is to basically set up a state within the state and buy everybody, terrorize everybody, money launder their money so that they're the richest guys on the block,

And as you say, use extreme violence.

And not only use extreme violence, but publicly make people aware of the extreme violence so that the whole state is living in a permanent state of anxiety.

And you can't get away from these people.

I mean, I don't know if you saw Narcos.

There's a moment where Pablo Escobar, now I know he wasn't Mexican, he was Colombian, is in effect positioning himself as a Robin Hood sort of character.

Yeah.