Chapo Guzman's Capture Distracts from Mexico's Economic Crisis

The high-profile capture of infamous Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman comes just as the Mexican economy has seen the peso hit all-time lows against the U.S. dollar—something critics are saying is more than just a coincidence.

Hours before President Enrique Pena Nieto announced that security forces had detained El Chapo on Friday, the Mexican peso slumped to a record low of 17.96 pesos per U.S. dollar after already having collapsed the day before, only months after peaking to its highest value seen in a year in November.

Some observers have suggested that the timing of El Chapo’s capture serves to shift attention not only away from the country’s economic woes, but also from widespread violence and government complicity with a highly-celebrated victory for the “war on drugs.”

Capture of #ElChapo occurs as #Mexico's peso suffers major devaluation. Media focus shifts. @telesurenglish

— Clayton Conn (@ClaytonCteleSUR) January 8, 2016

As Dawn Paley, author of “Drug War Capitalism,” told teleSUR on Friday, the media heyday around narco-celebrities like El Chapo casts a shadow over the more systematic nature of government complicity in violence and organized crime.

“The capture of El Chapo is a big media story that serves to distract us from the wider context of state and paramilitary violence in Mexico,” Paley told teleSUR . “For example, a study released last week showed that life expectancy in Mexico has fallen because of the increased homicide rate.”

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In the afterword to her book, Paley explains how El Chapo’s escape from a high security prison through a mile-long underground tunnel in July 2015 and the massive manhunt that followed overshadowed a number of important stories in Mexico for months, including news of violence, attacks, and economic issues.

“A 2014 survey of armed conflict showed that Mexico had the third highest level of casualties in armed conflict in the world, after Syria and Iraq,” Paley told teleSUR . “Stories that focus on individuals like El Chapo can prevent a deeper understanding of the ongoing crisis of violence throughout Mexico.”

The world's most powerful drug baron, El Chapo Guzman has been recaptured. pic.twitter.com/jXXxRIRWGs

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) January 8, 2016

The complexity and consequences of the war on drugs are much deeper and more far-reaching than a few high-profile events and figures, but these limited snapshots are nevertheless how the mainstream media communicates the drug war to the public.

El Chapo was first captured on June 9, 1993 near the border between Mexico’s southern state of Chiapas and Guatemala. Eight years later, El Chapo “escaped” from jail on Jan. 19, 2001 by bribing guards to let him be wheeled out of the high-security prison hidden in a laundry cart.

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El Chapo was captured again on Feb. 22, 2014 in the coastal city of Mazatlan, in his home state of Sinaloa, but not before the notorious drug lord slipped through authorities’ fingers more than once in a lengthy manhunt.

Just over a year later, El Chapo escaped from a maximum security prison for the second time in July 12, 2015, this time through a mile-long underground tunnel from the shower of his jail cell to a nearby abandoned house.

Every time something happens with El Chapo is to draw attention from government corruption something is about to happen in Mexico just watch

— Jose Sinatra Presley (@yo_mamassancho) January 8, 2016

The high-profile escape raised serious suspicion about high-level government complicity and corruption in the jailbreak.

Many on social media have been quick to raise their eyebrows and even poke fun at El Chapo’s capture, making reference to the relationship between government authorities and powerful drug cartels and speculating that El Chapo will likely escape from jail again before too long.

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What seems clear is that although El Chapo may dominate Mexican media as politicians pat each other on the back and paint the capture as a victory for the war on drugs, getting El Chapo back behind bars will not stem the deeper and widespread crises of human rights abuses, killings, disappearances, corruption, and impunity in Mexico.

El Chapo is being taken to an unknown location. Is it possible he will be extradited to the US? What do you think? pic.twitter.com/os3jDYhZl8

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) January 8, 2016