Mexican Jihad

5
30/10/13 Mexican Jihad nuestraaparenterendicion.com/index.php/blogs-ok/weary-bystanders-113/item/2029-mexican-jihad-documenting-the-visual-narrative-of-the-war-on-drugs 1/5 NUESTRA APARENTE RENDICIÓN QUEREMOS CONSTRUIR PAZ Y DIÁLOGO. POR ESO ESTAMOS AQUÍ Buscar USTED ESTA AQUI: Inicio BLOGS Cordelia Rizzo Mexican Jihad Viernes, 25 Octubre 2013 tamaño de la fuente Imprimir Email ¡Escribe el primer comentario! Documenting the Visual Narrative of the War on Drugs by Michelle García Michelle García’s piece analyzes the relevance of deconstructing the visual discourse of the War on Drugs in Mexico, and examines what the Mexican Jihad tumblr has to say about it. The tumblr takes images out of their context and displays them in a way that is able to express the way President Felipe Calderón and his cabinet gave so much importance to communicating a need of fighting the enemy through a display of bravado in military parades and other type of photo ops. García’s text helps us think about these more subtle mechanisms of war ideologization and morale boosting that the former government has used to persuade Mexicans and the international community that the military intervention has to go on until the ‘colossal enemy’ is subdued and destroyed. WB Everywhere he looks, madness has taken hold. Bodies strung from bridges, bodies dissolved in acid. Men roam across cities and small towns carrying automatic weapons. The dead are his age as are the killers, the enemy might have studied with him in high school back in Oaxaca. “Drug war” they say in English, “la guerra contra el narco” (war against the narco), they call it in Mexico, titles that explain the killers and the killings, titles repeated by the press, the president, and experts who claim to decode the meaning and motives in the work of criminals. Alberto Bustamante was a skinny college freshman one month shy of his 21st birthday when, in 2006 Felipe Calderon rode into the presidency and declares a war against the narcos, drug traffickers whose powdered and herbal merchandise fills the bongs and noses of gringo lawyers, college kids and empty nesters. But in Mexico, narco turf battles were to blame for massacres and beheadings including in the president's home state of Michoacan. The Mexican president speaking of freeing “young Mexicans from drugs, [1]” sent in the military, eventually deploying tens of thousands across the country. The visual evidence of “war” quickly followed[2] Military caravans roll down handsome boulevards and onto dirt roads, helicopters carry troops into marijuana fields, burning bales of weed, images of handcuffed men with somber faces strategically positioned behind piles of weapons and cash. War obliterated the complexities of the narco engine—corruption, impunity, and a dismal economy that produced thousands of unemployed, under educated young men who make for ideal candidates as look outs, drivers, smugglers, and hit men. With “war” neat lines are drawn and camps are formed in a fight of good versus evil. Calderon told his neighbors to the north that his was a war “to free the young Mexicans from drugs and to free Mexican society from slavery on the part of organized crime based on money and technology. [3]But if Calderon was leading the charge of the “good,” Alberto found him a “shocking” portrait of heroism. It's a war, you see that there are dead but its also a war on psychological level and that's what makes it very shocking,” says Alberto hunched over his laptop in the cafe he owns with some friends. “It becomes shocking when, every time you see the president he's dressed in a suit behind a podium giving a speech and then to see him dressed in military style.” Last year as Calderon's term began winding down and the death toll arrived at 70,000[4]-90,000 dead in six years, DESAPARECIDOS AYÚDANOS A MANTENER NAR ESTADO DE LA REPÚBLICA MEXICAN JIHAD MEXICANJIHAD.TUMBLR.COM Septiembre en Veracruz: represión Represión a maestros, a campesinos y a periodistas. Septiembre marcó un parteaguas en los sistemas de represión en Veracruz, la nueva Policía Estatal Acreditable lo mismo arremetió contra los maestros en resistencia… Septiembre en Nuevo León: Bajo el agua I En Septiembre siempre llueve en el Noreste del país, en esta ocasión se acercó un huracán, se le llamo Ingrid; ya como tormenta tropical golpeo algunas zonas de Nuevo León… Septiembre en Querétaro: Ahora fueron los migarntes Para evitar un secuestro, un grupo de migrantes armados pedía 8 mil dólares a otro grupo de migrantes que bajaron del tren en la comunidad de Agua Azul, municipio de… Bailar el vals contigo, Papá Carta a mi papá, Rafael García Ávila. Papá, te extraño, donde quiera que estés, ojalá te vuelva a hablar para que veas cómo estoy de grande ahora y para decirte cuánto… Homenaje a un hijo ausente. Un día más sentada frente a la computadora y no sé cómo empezar a escribir lo que siento. No sé si quienes lean esta carta logren entender el significado de… Gritarle al silencio A mi hijo Edson: Hace cuatro años que te arrancaron de mi lado. Estoy sufriendo. Hay tristeza y dolor porque no sé de ti. Me siento incompleta, mutilada, me faltas tú,… NAR CAMPAÑAS COMUNIDAD BLOGS ESTAMOS HACIENDO BIBLIOTECA LIBROS MEDIATECA

Transcript of Mexican Jihad

Page 1: Mexican Jihad

301013 Mexican Jihad

nuestraaparenterendicioncomindexphpblogs-okweary-bystanders-113item2029-mexican-jihad-documenting-the-visual-narrative-of-the-war-on-drugs 15

NUESTRA APARENTE RENDICIOacuteNQUEREMOS CONSTRUIR PAZ Y DIAacuteLOGO POR ESO ESTAMOS AQUIacute Buscar

USTED ESTA AQUI Inicio BLOGS Cordelia Rizzo Mexican Jihad

Viernes 25 Octubre 2013 tamantildeo de la fuente Imprimir Email iexclEscribe el primer comentario

Documenting the Visual Narrative of the War on

Drugs by Michelle Garciacutea

Michelle Garciacutearsquos piece analyzes the relevance of

deconstructing the visual discourse of the War on Drugs

in Mexico and examines what the Mexican Jihad tumblr

has to say about it The tumblr takes images out of their

context and displays them in a way that is able to express

the way President Felipe Calderoacuten and his cabinet gave so

much importance to communicating a need of fighting the enemy through a display of bravado in military

parades and other type of photo ops Garciacutearsquos text helps us think about these more subtle mechanisms of war

ideologization and morale boosting that the former government has used to persuade Mexicans and the

international community that the military intervention has to go on until the lsquocolossal enemyrsquo is subdued and

destroyed shyWB

Everywhere he looks madness has taken hold Bodies strung from bridges bodies dissolved in acid Men roam

across cities and small towns carrying automatic weapons The dead are his age as are the killers the enemy might

have studied with him in high school back in Oaxaca ldquoDrug warrdquo they say in English ldquola guerra contra el narcordquo

(war against the narco) they call it in Mexico titles that explain the killers and the killings titles repeated by the

press the president and experts who claim to decode the meaning and motives in the work of criminals

Alberto Bustamante was a skinny college freshman one month shy of his 21st birthday when in 2006 Felipe

Calderon rode into the presidency and declares a war against the narcos drug traffickers whose powdered and

herbal merchandise fills the bongs and noses of gringo lawyers college kids and empty nesters But in Mexico

narco turf battles were to blame for massacres and beheadings including in the presidents home state of

Michoacan The Mexican president speaking of freeing ldquoyoung Mexicans from drugs[1]rdquo sent in the military

eventually deploying tens of thousands across the country

The visual evidence of ldquowarrdquo quickly followed[2] Military caravans roll down handsome boulevards and onto dirt

roads helicopters carry troops into marijuana fields burning bales of weed images of handcuffed men with

somber faces strategically positioned behind piles of weapons and cash War obliterated the complexities of the

narco enginemdashcorruption impunity and a dismal economy that produced thousands of unemployed under

educated young men who make for ideal candidates as look outs drivers smugglers and hit men With ldquowarrdquo neat

lines are drawn and camps are formed in a fight of good versus evil

Calderon told his neighbors to the north that his was a war ldquoto free the young Mexicans from drugs and to free

Mexican society from slavery on the part of organized crime based on money and technology[3]rdquo

But if Calderon was leading the charge of the ldquogoodrdquo Alberto found him a ldquoshockingrdquo portrait of heroism ldquoIts a

war you see that there are dead but its also a war on psychological level and thats what makes it very shockingrdquo

says Alberto hunched over his laptop in the cafe he owns with some friends ldquoIt becomes shocking when every time

you see the president hes dressed in a suit behind a podium giving a speech and then to see him dressed in military

stylerdquo

Last year as Calderons term began winding down and the death toll arrived at 70000[4]-90000 dead in six years

DESAPARECIDOS

AYUacuteDANOS A MANTENER NAR

ESTADO DE LA REPUacuteBLICA

MEXICAN JIHAD

MEXICANJIHADTUMBLRCOM

Septiembre en VeracruzrepresioacutenRepresioacuten a maestros a campesinosy a periodistas Septiembre marcoacuteun parteaguas en los sistemas derepresioacuten en Veracruz la nuevaPoliciacutea Estatal Acreditable lo mismoarremetioacute contra los maestros enresistenciahellip

Septiembre en Nuevo Leoacuten Bajoel aguaI En Septiembre siempre llueve enel Noreste del paiacutes en esta ocasioacuten seacercoacute un huracaacuten se le llamoIngrid ya como tormenta tropicalgolpeo algunas zonas de NuevoLeoacutenhellip

Septiembre en Quereacutetaro Ahorafueron los migarntesPara evitar un secuestro un grupode migrantes armados pediacutea 8 mildoacutelares a otro grupo de migrantesque bajaron del tren en lacomunidad de Agua Azul municipiodehellip

Bailar el vals contigo PapaacuteCarta a mi papaacute Rafael Garciacutea AacutevilaPapaacute te extrantildeo donde quiera queesteacutes ojalaacute te vuelva a hablar paraque veas coacutemo estoy de grande ahoray para decirte cuaacutentohellip

Homenaje a un hijo ausenteUn diacutea maacutes sentada frente a lacomputadora y no seacute coacutemo empezara escribir lo que siento No seacute siquienes lean esta carta logrenentender el significado dehellip

Gritarle al silencioA mi hijo Edson Hace cuatro antildeosque te arrancaron de mi lado Estoysufriendo Hay tristeza y dolorporque no seacute de ti Me sientoincompleta mutilada me faltas tuacutehellip

NAR CAMPANtildeAS COMUNIDAD BLOGS ESTAMOS HACIENDO BIBLIOTECA LIBROS MEDIATECA

301013 Mexican Jihad

nuestraaparenterendicioncomindexphpblogs-okweary-bystanders-113item2029-mexican-jihad-documenting-the-visual-narrative-of-the-war-on-drugs 25

depending on who you believe To mark the war of his generation Bustamante produced his own psy-op distilling

the madness onto a mix tape Mexican Moslem mix tape[5] he would call it a cheeky rebuke to the Mexican and

US governments war rhetoric of equating the narco enemy with terrorists and the fight against narcos with the

US War on Terror And because Bustamante was in with the club kids the artists he played the mix at a dance

party in Mexico City that megalopolis ringed by mountains Mexican Moslem was his anthem for a generation

branded with the name narco a collection of phantasmagorical electronica tracks writhing and agitating and at

times invoking mourning with touches of Lady Gaga and influenced by musicians who go by the name Viva la

violencia Long Live the Violence

Link to music[6]

From the dance floor Bustamante lobbed his anthem onto the online media battlefield he says ldquoto put in public

view my personal vision of what was going onrdquo He paired the Mexican Moslem soundtrack with his online

scrapbook from Calderons war a collection of images culled from flicker instagram twitter news sites and blogs

He named it Mexican Jihad[7] calling it a gift to his president

The images were meant to shock his viewers into reconsidering ubiquitous photographs of war with its easily

recognizable narrative of a force for good-the government- battling against agents of evil the narcos ldquoI realized

that the images that I had kept no one recognized I would show someone the images and they would say where did

that come from The Newsrdquohe says

But what Mexican Jihad turned out to be for those following the six years of bloodshed and unsolved murders one

of the most poignant and critical commentaries of the visual story of Mexicos ldquodrug warrdquo Mexican Jihad reaches

behind simplistic neatly drawn lines of ldquowarrdquo and clear cut camps of good versus evil by training its focus on the

visual ldquowarrdquo narrativefor a violence in which very little is known about how killed and why Bustamante however

with his eclectic collection of published images online feeds and screen shots extends his critique to include the

press for reprinting the images with little or no scrutiny and the public for imbibing the entire package

Mexican Jihads kaleidoscopic trip through ldquowarrdquo begins with a replica of the painted mural inside a ldquonarco

museumrdquo housed within a military training center that showcases the hardware and bling confiscated from

narcos The triptych depicts Mexican soldiers charging at fields of cannabis and opium across the distinct regions

of the country What follows is an unbroken series of gifs and images and conspicuous absence of words to

capitalize as Bustamante says on publics predilection for scrolling through sites ldquolike pornrdquo

From the leftist magazine Proceso to more mainstream outlets to narco blogs and the foreign press all carried

much of the same government orchestrated photo-ops that communicated one idea WAR There were military

caravans rolling down handsome boulevards and onto dirt roads helicopters-borne troops raiding marijuana

fields burning bales of weed images of handcuffed men with somber faces strategically positioned behind piles of

weapons and cash[8] Bustamante a budding architect with a sharp eye for the control and use of space sifted

through the constant stream of images that saturated his world guided by personal and political taste

Further along President Calderon is seen with a green light radiating from his eyes The photograph was taken

during a presidential event in the enormous zocalo public square when spectators locked green lasers on the face

of the hugely unpopular war president ldquoIts civic protest taking place of the president in public on national TV

You are protesting on the face of the presidentrdquo he says with a smile ldquoThats beautifulrdquo

Bustamante then points to a photo of the crime scene from the Villas de Salvarcar massacre in Ciudad Juarez when

16 teenagers celebrating a birthday inside a private home were shot down by gunmen

The president initially intimated that the victims had been involved in organized crime but after a public

excoriation by parents of the young athletes and promising students Calderon later apologized

Ripped from their context Bustamantes collected images of nationalism military parades and photo-ops of

Calderon with his military leaders take on a sinister look A huge billboard that reads ldquono more weaponsrdquo seems

mocking when weapons are in the hands of everyone ldquoThis is as grotesque as a beheadingrdquo says Bustamante

ldquoThis is the actual power the actual decisionrdquo

The Mexican government and organized crime groups used images to vie for control over the publics perception of

power says Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera a university professor and expert on organized crime on the Texas-Mexico

border Criminal groups scrawled messages in blood and tacked to corpses Their was purpose was--If I can do

this there is no one to protect you When I take this from you there is nothing you can dordquo And the government she

says joined in its enemys game ldquoIt didnt improve institutions it didnt improve justice It wanted something

PRENSA AMENAZADA

CONTADOR DE VISITAS

Este conteo no incluye las de Menos Diacuteas Aquiacute ni las visitas

particulares a proyectos especiales y redes

301013 Mexican Jihad

nuestraaparenterendicioncomindexphpblogs-okweary-bystanders-113item2029-mexican-jihad-documenting-the-visual-narrative-of-the-war-on-drugs 35

spectacularrdquo

The stunning images of war however obliterated the complexities of the narco engine corruption impunity and a

dismal economy that produced thousands of unemployed under educated young men who made for ideal candidates

as look outs drivers smugglers and hit men Such nuance would emerge within the online battlefield where the

neat lines of war were blurred and Mexicans were bombarded with videos of brutality that went viral In one

masked men bludgeoned to death a state attorney generals brother like a pinata[9] No one knows who wielded the

weapons In a taped interrogation a woman clutching a rose confesses to having committed extortions Was she

questioned by police the military someone else[10] A video of a ldquodrug cartelrdquo execution suggests a nexus between

the military and ldquocartel members[11]

These images are not counted as part of the intense government publicity during the drug war that promoted

everything from the countrys security forces to its beaches as seen in ads installed inside New York City subways

(During Calderons administration its worth noting government spending on ldquopublicityrdquo quadrupled reaching $4

billion in 2011 and exceeding the authorized budget by a factor of three according to an analysis of public spending

by the watchdog group Publicidad Oficial[12]) Indeed Mexican Jihad includes promotional images from El

Equipo[13] the short-lived secretly government financed television program beamed into every home in Mexico that

glorified the Mexican federal police and its mission of good

Just weeks before the Villas de Salvarcar massacre Julian Cardona a leading photographer who has chronicled

the violence in Ciudad Juarez told me that the story of Mexicos ldquodrug warrdquo was consisted of a recycling of image

that created ldquoecho or propagation in the national local and foreign mediardquo Photographs and visuals revolved

around the declared ldquodrug warrdquo narrative-- security forces out ldquofight ing the narcordquo followed by the parade of the

accused handcuffed faced down whose guilt was implicit though in most cases after the cameras disappeared

detainees were eventually released[14]

In Juarez at least Cardona said young menmdashdead or alivemdash taken as the narco were often low level pushers or

users Likewise beyond the camera lens are images capturing state security forces conducting arbitrary detentions

torturing or disappearing people ldquoIts rare that someone who has had any experience like that would open

themselves so that another image could be consideredrdquo he said ldquoVery frequently you have images of soldiers going

through the streets but not of their victimsrdquo

There were no photographs that could illustrate that of the 1203 homicides cases between 2010 and 2011

according to an investigation by El Diario de Juarez only in 59 crime scenes were firearms found meaning in the

ldquodrug warrdquo battles only one side was shooting

But visual criticism requires context and that is where Mexican Jihad encounters its limits ldquoYoud have to know

what you know for this to make senserdquo John Mraz said What makes Mexicos drug war unique is that its visual

story fits within a long history of a government created cultural identity through television films and photography

says Mraz author of ldquoMexicos Looking for Mexico Modern Visual Culture and National IdentityrdquoThe images

featured in Mexican Jihad are the very images of nationalism and identity promoted by Calderon to shore up

support for his ldquodrug warrdquo

Last year Mexican Jihad jumped from the page to real life when Alberto and some friends mounted a series of dance

parties within the newly unveiled monument to Mexican war history Over four weeks they hosted djs from some of

Mexicos hardest hit cities at the Estela de Luz a monument in honor of the bicentanrio of independence and the

Mexican Revolution at the entrance of the presidential palace While the music played inside Bustamante and his

collaborators beamed words from an oversized light fixture They called the event ESTADO (state) a co-opting of

the government

Bustamante hands me an event flyer and one of the ldquosponsorsrdquo listed is NAAFI which he tells me represents Navy

Army and Air Force Institutes but in reflecting the dismal legacy of the ldquowar against the narcordquo he added ldquonow its

the name of my partyrdquo

A few weeks later on December 1 Enrique Pentildea Nieto assumed the presidential office and Mexican Jihad lay

frozen in time Bustamante left the online monument a homage to the war president The ldquowarrdquo he says isnt the

same under the new president Gone are the splashy photo-ops with detained men standing in front of weapons and

drugs the military operations storming into the countryside and Pentildea Nieto has yet to appear with military brass

But the number of dead holds steady at a little over 1000 per month extortions and kidnappings are rampant

General impunity continues unabated 98 percent of homicides committed in 2012 remain unsolved[15] The only

indication that the ldquowarrdquo is over is the absence of its images

301013 Mexican Jihad

nuestraaparenterendicioncomindexphpblogs-okweary-bystanders-113item2029-mexican-jihad-documenting-the-visual-narrative-of-the-war-on-drugs 45

Por

Fecha

Twittear

[1] httpwwwlocgovtodaycyberlcfeature_wdescphprec=5508

[2] Possible good photo essays to either include in the piece or link to

httpwwwtimecomtimephotogallery029307165142000html (notice the description is precisely the point of

criticism the idea of good versus evil)

httpprojectslatimescommexico-drug-warits-a-war

httpwwwtheatlanticcominfocus201205mexicos-drug-war-50-000-dead-in-6-years100299

httpwwwbostoncombigpicture200903mexicos_drug_warhtml

[3] httpwwwlocgovtodaycyberlcfeature_wdescphprec=5508

[4] httpwwwinsightcrimeorgnews-analysismexican-govts-murder-count-worse-useless

httparticleslatimescom2012jan11worldla-fg-mexico-dead-numbers-20120112

[5] httpwwwmixcloudcomdemomiltonmexican-moslem-

mixtapeutm_source=widgetamputm_medium=webamputm_campaign=flash_links

[6] httpwwwmixcloudcomdemomiltonmexican-moslem-

mixtapeutm_source=widgetamputm_medium=webamputm_campaign=flash_links

[7] Mexicanjihadtumblrcom

[8] Possible good photo essays to either include in the piece or link to

httpwwwtimecomtimephotogallery029307165142000html (notice the description is precisely the point of

criticism the idea of good versus evil

httpprojectslatimescommexico-drug-warits-a-war

httpwwwtheatlanticcominfocus201205mexicos-drug-war-50-000-dead-in-6-years100299

httpwwwbostoncombigpicture200903mexicos_drug_warhtml

[9] httptutvvideoshermano-de-patricia-gonzalez-la-pinata WARNING EXTREME VIOLENCE

[10] httpmexablogcommx20101019confesion-de-una-extorsionadora-antes-de-ser-ejecutada

[11] httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=EVF6qIEWFtI

httpdirgroupsyahoocomgroupJudgedMenAllianceForTomorrowmessage2671

[12] httppublicidadoficialcom-mxgastofederal

[13] httparticleslatimescom2011jun01worldla-fg-mexico-tv-series-20110602

[14] httporgnewswwwinsightcrime-briefscalderon-80-organized-crime-detainees-free

[15] httpwwwanimalpoliticocom20130798-de-los-homicidios-de-2012-en-la-impunidadaxzz2dstTiffa

Informacioacuten adicionalMichelle Garciacutea

2013

ETIQUETADO COMO VIOLENCE IN MEXICO VISUAL NARRATIVE WAR ON DRUGS

MAacuteS EN ESTA CATEGORIacuteA

laquo Poems About Loss

Like 77 people like this Be the first of yourfriends

301013 Mexican Jihad

nuestraaparenterendicioncomindexphpblogs-okweary-bystanders-113item2029-mexican-jihad-documenting-the-visual-narrative-of-the-war-on-drugs 55

ENVIAR COMENTARIO

volver arriba

DEJA UN COMENTARIOAseguacuterate de llenar la informacioacuten requerida marcada con () No estaacute permitido el Coacutedigo HTML Tu direccioacuten de correo NO

seraacute publicada

Mensaje

Escribe aquiacute tu mensaje

Nombre

escribe tu nombre

Email

Escribe tu direccioacuten de correo electroacutenico

URL del sitio web

escribe la URL de tu sitio Web

Escribe las dos palabras que ves a continuacioacuten

Powered by 2B BARCELONA BOGOTA copy NUESTRA APARENTE RENDICION | 2010 All rights reserved

Escriba el texto

Page 2: Mexican Jihad

301013 Mexican Jihad

nuestraaparenterendicioncomindexphpblogs-okweary-bystanders-113item2029-mexican-jihad-documenting-the-visual-narrative-of-the-war-on-drugs 25

depending on who you believe To mark the war of his generation Bustamante produced his own psy-op distilling

the madness onto a mix tape Mexican Moslem mix tape[5] he would call it a cheeky rebuke to the Mexican and

US governments war rhetoric of equating the narco enemy with terrorists and the fight against narcos with the

US War on Terror And because Bustamante was in with the club kids the artists he played the mix at a dance

party in Mexico City that megalopolis ringed by mountains Mexican Moslem was his anthem for a generation

branded with the name narco a collection of phantasmagorical electronica tracks writhing and agitating and at

times invoking mourning with touches of Lady Gaga and influenced by musicians who go by the name Viva la

violencia Long Live the Violence

Link to music[6]

From the dance floor Bustamante lobbed his anthem onto the online media battlefield he says ldquoto put in public

view my personal vision of what was going onrdquo He paired the Mexican Moslem soundtrack with his online

scrapbook from Calderons war a collection of images culled from flicker instagram twitter news sites and blogs

He named it Mexican Jihad[7] calling it a gift to his president

The images were meant to shock his viewers into reconsidering ubiquitous photographs of war with its easily

recognizable narrative of a force for good-the government- battling against agents of evil the narcos ldquoI realized

that the images that I had kept no one recognized I would show someone the images and they would say where did

that come from The Newsrdquohe says

But what Mexican Jihad turned out to be for those following the six years of bloodshed and unsolved murders one

of the most poignant and critical commentaries of the visual story of Mexicos ldquodrug warrdquo Mexican Jihad reaches

behind simplistic neatly drawn lines of ldquowarrdquo and clear cut camps of good versus evil by training its focus on the

visual ldquowarrdquo narrativefor a violence in which very little is known about how killed and why Bustamante however

with his eclectic collection of published images online feeds and screen shots extends his critique to include the

press for reprinting the images with little or no scrutiny and the public for imbibing the entire package

Mexican Jihads kaleidoscopic trip through ldquowarrdquo begins with a replica of the painted mural inside a ldquonarco

museumrdquo housed within a military training center that showcases the hardware and bling confiscated from

narcos The triptych depicts Mexican soldiers charging at fields of cannabis and opium across the distinct regions

of the country What follows is an unbroken series of gifs and images and conspicuous absence of words to

capitalize as Bustamante says on publics predilection for scrolling through sites ldquolike pornrdquo

From the leftist magazine Proceso to more mainstream outlets to narco blogs and the foreign press all carried

much of the same government orchestrated photo-ops that communicated one idea WAR There were military

caravans rolling down handsome boulevards and onto dirt roads helicopters-borne troops raiding marijuana

fields burning bales of weed images of handcuffed men with somber faces strategically positioned behind piles of

weapons and cash[8] Bustamante a budding architect with a sharp eye for the control and use of space sifted

through the constant stream of images that saturated his world guided by personal and political taste

Further along President Calderon is seen with a green light radiating from his eyes The photograph was taken

during a presidential event in the enormous zocalo public square when spectators locked green lasers on the face

of the hugely unpopular war president ldquoIts civic protest taking place of the president in public on national TV

You are protesting on the face of the presidentrdquo he says with a smile ldquoThats beautifulrdquo

Bustamante then points to a photo of the crime scene from the Villas de Salvarcar massacre in Ciudad Juarez when

16 teenagers celebrating a birthday inside a private home were shot down by gunmen

The president initially intimated that the victims had been involved in organized crime but after a public

excoriation by parents of the young athletes and promising students Calderon later apologized

Ripped from their context Bustamantes collected images of nationalism military parades and photo-ops of

Calderon with his military leaders take on a sinister look A huge billboard that reads ldquono more weaponsrdquo seems

mocking when weapons are in the hands of everyone ldquoThis is as grotesque as a beheadingrdquo says Bustamante

ldquoThis is the actual power the actual decisionrdquo

The Mexican government and organized crime groups used images to vie for control over the publics perception of

power says Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera a university professor and expert on organized crime on the Texas-Mexico

border Criminal groups scrawled messages in blood and tacked to corpses Their was purpose was--If I can do

this there is no one to protect you When I take this from you there is nothing you can dordquo And the government she

says joined in its enemys game ldquoIt didnt improve institutions it didnt improve justice It wanted something

PRENSA AMENAZADA

CONTADOR DE VISITAS

Este conteo no incluye las de Menos Diacuteas Aquiacute ni las visitas

particulares a proyectos especiales y redes

301013 Mexican Jihad

nuestraaparenterendicioncomindexphpblogs-okweary-bystanders-113item2029-mexican-jihad-documenting-the-visual-narrative-of-the-war-on-drugs 35

spectacularrdquo

The stunning images of war however obliterated the complexities of the narco engine corruption impunity and a

dismal economy that produced thousands of unemployed under educated young men who made for ideal candidates

as look outs drivers smugglers and hit men Such nuance would emerge within the online battlefield where the

neat lines of war were blurred and Mexicans were bombarded with videos of brutality that went viral In one

masked men bludgeoned to death a state attorney generals brother like a pinata[9] No one knows who wielded the

weapons In a taped interrogation a woman clutching a rose confesses to having committed extortions Was she

questioned by police the military someone else[10] A video of a ldquodrug cartelrdquo execution suggests a nexus between

the military and ldquocartel members[11]

These images are not counted as part of the intense government publicity during the drug war that promoted

everything from the countrys security forces to its beaches as seen in ads installed inside New York City subways

(During Calderons administration its worth noting government spending on ldquopublicityrdquo quadrupled reaching $4

billion in 2011 and exceeding the authorized budget by a factor of three according to an analysis of public spending

by the watchdog group Publicidad Oficial[12]) Indeed Mexican Jihad includes promotional images from El

Equipo[13] the short-lived secretly government financed television program beamed into every home in Mexico that

glorified the Mexican federal police and its mission of good

Just weeks before the Villas de Salvarcar massacre Julian Cardona a leading photographer who has chronicled

the violence in Ciudad Juarez told me that the story of Mexicos ldquodrug warrdquo was consisted of a recycling of image

that created ldquoecho or propagation in the national local and foreign mediardquo Photographs and visuals revolved

around the declared ldquodrug warrdquo narrative-- security forces out ldquofight ing the narcordquo followed by the parade of the

accused handcuffed faced down whose guilt was implicit though in most cases after the cameras disappeared

detainees were eventually released[14]

In Juarez at least Cardona said young menmdashdead or alivemdash taken as the narco were often low level pushers or

users Likewise beyond the camera lens are images capturing state security forces conducting arbitrary detentions

torturing or disappearing people ldquoIts rare that someone who has had any experience like that would open

themselves so that another image could be consideredrdquo he said ldquoVery frequently you have images of soldiers going

through the streets but not of their victimsrdquo

There were no photographs that could illustrate that of the 1203 homicides cases between 2010 and 2011

according to an investigation by El Diario de Juarez only in 59 crime scenes were firearms found meaning in the

ldquodrug warrdquo battles only one side was shooting

But visual criticism requires context and that is where Mexican Jihad encounters its limits ldquoYoud have to know

what you know for this to make senserdquo John Mraz said What makes Mexicos drug war unique is that its visual

story fits within a long history of a government created cultural identity through television films and photography

says Mraz author of ldquoMexicos Looking for Mexico Modern Visual Culture and National IdentityrdquoThe images

featured in Mexican Jihad are the very images of nationalism and identity promoted by Calderon to shore up

support for his ldquodrug warrdquo

Last year Mexican Jihad jumped from the page to real life when Alberto and some friends mounted a series of dance

parties within the newly unveiled monument to Mexican war history Over four weeks they hosted djs from some of

Mexicos hardest hit cities at the Estela de Luz a monument in honor of the bicentanrio of independence and the

Mexican Revolution at the entrance of the presidential palace While the music played inside Bustamante and his

collaborators beamed words from an oversized light fixture They called the event ESTADO (state) a co-opting of

the government

Bustamante hands me an event flyer and one of the ldquosponsorsrdquo listed is NAAFI which he tells me represents Navy

Army and Air Force Institutes but in reflecting the dismal legacy of the ldquowar against the narcordquo he added ldquonow its

the name of my partyrdquo

A few weeks later on December 1 Enrique Pentildea Nieto assumed the presidential office and Mexican Jihad lay

frozen in time Bustamante left the online monument a homage to the war president The ldquowarrdquo he says isnt the

same under the new president Gone are the splashy photo-ops with detained men standing in front of weapons and

drugs the military operations storming into the countryside and Pentildea Nieto has yet to appear with military brass

But the number of dead holds steady at a little over 1000 per month extortions and kidnappings are rampant

General impunity continues unabated 98 percent of homicides committed in 2012 remain unsolved[15] The only

indication that the ldquowarrdquo is over is the absence of its images

301013 Mexican Jihad

nuestraaparenterendicioncomindexphpblogs-okweary-bystanders-113item2029-mexican-jihad-documenting-the-visual-narrative-of-the-war-on-drugs 45

Por

Fecha

Twittear

[1] httpwwwlocgovtodaycyberlcfeature_wdescphprec=5508

[2] Possible good photo essays to either include in the piece or link to

httpwwwtimecomtimephotogallery029307165142000html (notice the description is precisely the point of

criticism the idea of good versus evil)

httpprojectslatimescommexico-drug-warits-a-war

httpwwwtheatlanticcominfocus201205mexicos-drug-war-50-000-dead-in-6-years100299

httpwwwbostoncombigpicture200903mexicos_drug_warhtml

[3] httpwwwlocgovtodaycyberlcfeature_wdescphprec=5508

[4] httpwwwinsightcrimeorgnews-analysismexican-govts-murder-count-worse-useless

httparticleslatimescom2012jan11worldla-fg-mexico-dead-numbers-20120112

[5] httpwwwmixcloudcomdemomiltonmexican-moslem-

mixtapeutm_source=widgetamputm_medium=webamputm_campaign=flash_links

[6] httpwwwmixcloudcomdemomiltonmexican-moslem-

mixtapeutm_source=widgetamputm_medium=webamputm_campaign=flash_links

[7] Mexicanjihadtumblrcom

[8] Possible good photo essays to either include in the piece or link to

httpwwwtimecomtimephotogallery029307165142000html (notice the description is precisely the point of

criticism the idea of good versus evil

httpprojectslatimescommexico-drug-warits-a-war

httpwwwtheatlanticcominfocus201205mexicos-drug-war-50-000-dead-in-6-years100299

httpwwwbostoncombigpicture200903mexicos_drug_warhtml

[9] httptutvvideoshermano-de-patricia-gonzalez-la-pinata WARNING EXTREME VIOLENCE

[10] httpmexablogcommx20101019confesion-de-una-extorsionadora-antes-de-ser-ejecutada

[11] httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=EVF6qIEWFtI

httpdirgroupsyahoocomgroupJudgedMenAllianceForTomorrowmessage2671

[12] httppublicidadoficialcom-mxgastofederal

[13] httparticleslatimescom2011jun01worldla-fg-mexico-tv-series-20110602

[14] httporgnewswwwinsightcrime-briefscalderon-80-organized-crime-detainees-free

[15] httpwwwanimalpoliticocom20130798-de-los-homicidios-de-2012-en-la-impunidadaxzz2dstTiffa

Informacioacuten adicionalMichelle Garciacutea

2013

ETIQUETADO COMO VIOLENCE IN MEXICO VISUAL NARRATIVE WAR ON DRUGS

MAacuteS EN ESTA CATEGORIacuteA

laquo Poems About Loss

Like 77 people like this Be the first of yourfriends

301013 Mexican Jihad

nuestraaparenterendicioncomindexphpblogs-okweary-bystanders-113item2029-mexican-jihad-documenting-the-visual-narrative-of-the-war-on-drugs 55

ENVIAR COMENTARIO

volver arriba

DEJA UN COMENTARIOAseguacuterate de llenar la informacioacuten requerida marcada con () No estaacute permitido el Coacutedigo HTML Tu direccioacuten de correo NO

seraacute publicada

Mensaje

Escribe aquiacute tu mensaje

Nombre

escribe tu nombre

Email

Escribe tu direccioacuten de correo electroacutenico

URL del sitio web

escribe la URL de tu sitio Web

Escribe las dos palabras que ves a continuacioacuten

Powered by 2B BARCELONA BOGOTA copy NUESTRA APARENTE RENDICION | 2010 All rights reserved

Escriba el texto

Page 3: Mexican Jihad

301013 Mexican Jihad

nuestraaparenterendicioncomindexphpblogs-okweary-bystanders-113item2029-mexican-jihad-documenting-the-visual-narrative-of-the-war-on-drugs 35

spectacularrdquo

The stunning images of war however obliterated the complexities of the narco engine corruption impunity and a

dismal economy that produced thousands of unemployed under educated young men who made for ideal candidates

as look outs drivers smugglers and hit men Such nuance would emerge within the online battlefield where the

neat lines of war were blurred and Mexicans were bombarded with videos of brutality that went viral In one

masked men bludgeoned to death a state attorney generals brother like a pinata[9] No one knows who wielded the

weapons In a taped interrogation a woman clutching a rose confesses to having committed extortions Was she

questioned by police the military someone else[10] A video of a ldquodrug cartelrdquo execution suggests a nexus between

the military and ldquocartel members[11]

These images are not counted as part of the intense government publicity during the drug war that promoted

everything from the countrys security forces to its beaches as seen in ads installed inside New York City subways

(During Calderons administration its worth noting government spending on ldquopublicityrdquo quadrupled reaching $4

billion in 2011 and exceeding the authorized budget by a factor of three according to an analysis of public spending

by the watchdog group Publicidad Oficial[12]) Indeed Mexican Jihad includes promotional images from El

Equipo[13] the short-lived secretly government financed television program beamed into every home in Mexico that

glorified the Mexican federal police and its mission of good

Just weeks before the Villas de Salvarcar massacre Julian Cardona a leading photographer who has chronicled

the violence in Ciudad Juarez told me that the story of Mexicos ldquodrug warrdquo was consisted of a recycling of image

that created ldquoecho or propagation in the national local and foreign mediardquo Photographs and visuals revolved

around the declared ldquodrug warrdquo narrative-- security forces out ldquofight ing the narcordquo followed by the parade of the

accused handcuffed faced down whose guilt was implicit though in most cases after the cameras disappeared

detainees were eventually released[14]

In Juarez at least Cardona said young menmdashdead or alivemdash taken as the narco were often low level pushers or

users Likewise beyond the camera lens are images capturing state security forces conducting arbitrary detentions

torturing or disappearing people ldquoIts rare that someone who has had any experience like that would open

themselves so that another image could be consideredrdquo he said ldquoVery frequently you have images of soldiers going

through the streets but not of their victimsrdquo

There were no photographs that could illustrate that of the 1203 homicides cases between 2010 and 2011

according to an investigation by El Diario de Juarez only in 59 crime scenes were firearms found meaning in the

ldquodrug warrdquo battles only one side was shooting

But visual criticism requires context and that is where Mexican Jihad encounters its limits ldquoYoud have to know

what you know for this to make senserdquo John Mraz said What makes Mexicos drug war unique is that its visual

story fits within a long history of a government created cultural identity through television films and photography

says Mraz author of ldquoMexicos Looking for Mexico Modern Visual Culture and National IdentityrdquoThe images

featured in Mexican Jihad are the very images of nationalism and identity promoted by Calderon to shore up

support for his ldquodrug warrdquo

Last year Mexican Jihad jumped from the page to real life when Alberto and some friends mounted a series of dance

parties within the newly unveiled monument to Mexican war history Over four weeks they hosted djs from some of

Mexicos hardest hit cities at the Estela de Luz a monument in honor of the bicentanrio of independence and the

Mexican Revolution at the entrance of the presidential palace While the music played inside Bustamante and his

collaborators beamed words from an oversized light fixture They called the event ESTADO (state) a co-opting of

the government

Bustamante hands me an event flyer and one of the ldquosponsorsrdquo listed is NAAFI which he tells me represents Navy

Army and Air Force Institutes but in reflecting the dismal legacy of the ldquowar against the narcordquo he added ldquonow its

the name of my partyrdquo

A few weeks later on December 1 Enrique Pentildea Nieto assumed the presidential office and Mexican Jihad lay

frozen in time Bustamante left the online monument a homage to the war president The ldquowarrdquo he says isnt the

same under the new president Gone are the splashy photo-ops with detained men standing in front of weapons and

drugs the military operations storming into the countryside and Pentildea Nieto has yet to appear with military brass

But the number of dead holds steady at a little over 1000 per month extortions and kidnappings are rampant

General impunity continues unabated 98 percent of homicides committed in 2012 remain unsolved[15] The only

indication that the ldquowarrdquo is over is the absence of its images

301013 Mexican Jihad

nuestraaparenterendicioncomindexphpblogs-okweary-bystanders-113item2029-mexican-jihad-documenting-the-visual-narrative-of-the-war-on-drugs 45

Por

Fecha

Twittear

[1] httpwwwlocgovtodaycyberlcfeature_wdescphprec=5508

[2] Possible good photo essays to either include in the piece or link to

httpwwwtimecomtimephotogallery029307165142000html (notice the description is precisely the point of

criticism the idea of good versus evil)

httpprojectslatimescommexico-drug-warits-a-war

httpwwwtheatlanticcominfocus201205mexicos-drug-war-50-000-dead-in-6-years100299

httpwwwbostoncombigpicture200903mexicos_drug_warhtml

[3] httpwwwlocgovtodaycyberlcfeature_wdescphprec=5508

[4] httpwwwinsightcrimeorgnews-analysismexican-govts-murder-count-worse-useless

httparticleslatimescom2012jan11worldla-fg-mexico-dead-numbers-20120112

[5] httpwwwmixcloudcomdemomiltonmexican-moslem-

mixtapeutm_source=widgetamputm_medium=webamputm_campaign=flash_links

[6] httpwwwmixcloudcomdemomiltonmexican-moslem-

mixtapeutm_source=widgetamputm_medium=webamputm_campaign=flash_links

[7] Mexicanjihadtumblrcom

[8] Possible good photo essays to either include in the piece or link to

httpwwwtimecomtimephotogallery029307165142000html (notice the description is precisely the point of

criticism the idea of good versus evil

httpprojectslatimescommexico-drug-warits-a-war

httpwwwtheatlanticcominfocus201205mexicos-drug-war-50-000-dead-in-6-years100299

httpwwwbostoncombigpicture200903mexicos_drug_warhtml

[9] httptutvvideoshermano-de-patricia-gonzalez-la-pinata WARNING EXTREME VIOLENCE

[10] httpmexablogcommx20101019confesion-de-una-extorsionadora-antes-de-ser-ejecutada

[11] httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=EVF6qIEWFtI

httpdirgroupsyahoocomgroupJudgedMenAllianceForTomorrowmessage2671

[12] httppublicidadoficialcom-mxgastofederal

[13] httparticleslatimescom2011jun01worldla-fg-mexico-tv-series-20110602

[14] httporgnewswwwinsightcrime-briefscalderon-80-organized-crime-detainees-free

[15] httpwwwanimalpoliticocom20130798-de-los-homicidios-de-2012-en-la-impunidadaxzz2dstTiffa

Informacioacuten adicionalMichelle Garciacutea

2013

ETIQUETADO COMO VIOLENCE IN MEXICO VISUAL NARRATIVE WAR ON DRUGS

MAacuteS EN ESTA CATEGORIacuteA

laquo Poems About Loss

Like 77 people like this Be the first of yourfriends

301013 Mexican Jihad

nuestraaparenterendicioncomindexphpblogs-okweary-bystanders-113item2029-mexican-jihad-documenting-the-visual-narrative-of-the-war-on-drugs 55

ENVIAR COMENTARIO

volver arriba

DEJA UN COMENTARIOAseguacuterate de llenar la informacioacuten requerida marcada con () No estaacute permitido el Coacutedigo HTML Tu direccioacuten de correo NO

seraacute publicada

Mensaje

Escribe aquiacute tu mensaje

Nombre

escribe tu nombre

Email

Escribe tu direccioacuten de correo electroacutenico

URL del sitio web

escribe la URL de tu sitio Web

Escribe las dos palabras que ves a continuacioacuten

Powered by 2B BARCELONA BOGOTA copy NUESTRA APARENTE RENDICION | 2010 All rights reserved

Escriba el texto

Page 4: Mexican Jihad

301013 Mexican Jihad

nuestraaparenterendicioncomindexphpblogs-okweary-bystanders-113item2029-mexican-jihad-documenting-the-visual-narrative-of-the-war-on-drugs 45

Por

Fecha

Twittear

[1] httpwwwlocgovtodaycyberlcfeature_wdescphprec=5508

[2] Possible good photo essays to either include in the piece or link to

httpwwwtimecomtimephotogallery029307165142000html (notice the description is precisely the point of

criticism the idea of good versus evil)

httpprojectslatimescommexico-drug-warits-a-war

httpwwwtheatlanticcominfocus201205mexicos-drug-war-50-000-dead-in-6-years100299

httpwwwbostoncombigpicture200903mexicos_drug_warhtml

[3] httpwwwlocgovtodaycyberlcfeature_wdescphprec=5508

[4] httpwwwinsightcrimeorgnews-analysismexican-govts-murder-count-worse-useless

httparticleslatimescom2012jan11worldla-fg-mexico-dead-numbers-20120112

[5] httpwwwmixcloudcomdemomiltonmexican-moslem-

mixtapeutm_source=widgetamputm_medium=webamputm_campaign=flash_links

[6] httpwwwmixcloudcomdemomiltonmexican-moslem-

mixtapeutm_source=widgetamputm_medium=webamputm_campaign=flash_links

[7] Mexicanjihadtumblrcom

[8] Possible good photo essays to either include in the piece or link to

httpwwwtimecomtimephotogallery029307165142000html (notice the description is precisely the point of

criticism the idea of good versus evil

httpprojectslatimescommexico-drug-warits-a-war

httpwwwtheatlanticcominfocus201205mexicos-drug-war-50-000-dead-in-6-years100299

httpwwwbostoncombigpicture200903mexicos_drug_warhtml

[9] httptutvvideoshermano-de-patricia-gonzalez-la-pinata WARNING EXTREME VIOLENCE

[10] httpmexablogcommx20101019confesion-de-una-extorsionadora-antes-de-ser-ejecutada

[11] httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=EVF6qIEWFtI

httpdirgroupsyahoocomgroupJudgedMenAllianceForTomorrowmessage2671

[12] httppublicidadoficialcom-mxgastofederal

[13] httparticleslatimescom2011jun01worldla-fg-mexico-tv-series-20110602

[14] httporgnewswwwinsightcrime-briefscalderon-80-organized-crime-detainees-free

[15] httpwwwanimalpoliticocom20130798-de-los-homicidios-de-2012-en-la-impunidadaxzz2dstTiffa

Informacioacuten adicionalMichelle Garciacutea

2013

ETIQUETADO COMO VIOLENCE IN MEXICO VISUAL NARRATIVE WAR ON DRUGS

MAacuteS EN ESTA CATEGORIacuteA

laquo Poems About Loss

Like 77 people like this Be the first of yourfriends

301013 Mexican Jihad

nuestraaparenterendicioncomindexphpblogs-okweary-bystanders-113item2029-mexican-jihad-documenting-the-visual-narrative-of-the-war-on-drugs 55

ENVIAR COMENTARIO

volver arriba

DEJA UN COMENTARIOAseguacuterate de llenar la informacioacuten requerida marcada con () No estaacute permitido el Coacutedigo HTML Tu direccioacuten de correo NO

seraacute publicada

Mensaje

Escribe aquiacute tu mensaje

Nombre

escribe tu nombre

Email

Escribe tu direccioacuten de correo electroacutenico

URL del sitio web

escribe la URL de tu sitio Web

Escribe las dos palabras que ves a continuacioacuten

Powered by 2B BARCELONA BOGOTA copy NUESTRA APARENTE RENDICION | 2010 All rights reserved

Escriba el texto

Page 5: Mexican Jihad

301013 Mexican Jihad

nuestraaparenterendicioncomindexphpblogs-okweary-bystanders-113item2029-mexican-jihad-documenting-the-visual-narrative-of-the-war-on-drugs 55

ENVIAR COMENTARIO

volver arriba

DEJA UN COMENTARIOAseguacuterate de llenar la informacioacuten requerida marcada con () No estaacute permitido el Coacutedigo HTML Tu direccioacuten de correo NO

seraacute publicada

Mensaje

Escribe aquiacute tu mensaje

Nombre

escribe tu nombre

Email

Escribe tu direccioacuten de correo electroacutenico

URL del sitio web

escribe la URL de tu sitio Web

Escribe las dos palabras que ves a continuacioacuten

Powered by 2B BARCELONA BOGOTA copy NUESTRA APARENTE RENDICION | 2010 All rights reserved

Escriba el texto