This is the Narco News Bulletin. I create this work in a public space: The Internet, where everybody, free of charge, may read it at the address of www.narconews.com. The reader is invited to comment upon the work as it is written. This is a project of participatory citizen-journalism.
Under the title of The Narco News Bulletin ("Narco News") I report on the drug war from Latin America, as well as translate the reporting and opinions of Latin American journalists into English.
This work has a thesis: that United States government policy, by imposing a prohibition of drugs on all nations in the hemisphere, is harmful to democracy, to justice, to the natural environment and to human rights.
And it makes an argument: to end drug prohibition.
This is the first print edition of this work-in-progress. It includes the entirety of my articles and commentaries from April 18, 2000, when Narco News was first published on the Internet, until August 9, 2000; the date that the National Bank of Mexico ("Banamex") brought a lawsuit against The Narco News Bulletin, journalist Mario Menendez and me in the Supreme Court of the State of New York. This print edition encompasses my work for the "relevant time period" of this lawsuit.
Therefore, I submit this work, this stage of a larger book-in-progress, to the Court, now, as an exhibit, so that my work can be read as it was actually written, in its full context, and not as selectively, cynically and dishonestly portrayed by the attorneys for Banamex.
I dedicate this book to the Court, to its officers and jurors, so that you may have access to all the facts and context of this work in its entirety, and make informed judgments, based on the facts.
Al Giordano
May 2000
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The Mexico Papers
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………2
Chapter One
Opening Statement……………………………………………………………,…….8
Press Release: The Narco News Bulletin Premiers on Internet…………………13
"Ambassador Big Mouth"……………………………………………...…………15
Hitman in Tijuana; Crime Bosses in the U.S………………………………...…….23
Presidential Candidate Labastida: Inventor of the Modern Narco-State?.......….25
"A Low and Dirty Blow": Labastida……………………………………...........….27
…Yet the very next day he walks with "Narco-Banker"………………..…...…..28
Dallas A.M. News and NY Times Mexican Elections Stories……………………31
The New York Times' Sam Dillon Problem……………………………….........…34
Washington Post Weighs In………………………………………...…...........……35
POR ESTO! Conquers New York City……………………………//……………..37
U.S. is "World Headquarters" of Drug Money………………………….………..39
¡LEGALIZACIÓN! The L-word enters post-certification
debate in Mexico….…40
Martha Chapa says "Enough Already": Polemic on US-Mexican
Relations,,,,…54
Shots of Grace column…………………………………………………………...…56
"There's already no drug trafficking" in Quintana Roo!……………........……….57
Cowardice in the DEA?………………………………………………............……..61
Prosecutor as Snitch…………………………………………………...........………62
Turmoil in cocaine producer nations………………………………............………..63
South American Governments on the Move…………………….........................…64
Quote of the Month……………………………………………............……………70
White House Invitation………………………………………............……………..70
More on the Narco-Media……………………………………............…………….73
The Magic Suitcase…………………………………………............………………74
Rudolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera Garcia….....................................................75
Chapter Two
LA Times on Labastida's Narco-State………………………………………..……79
Excelsior Tampers with LA Times Story…………………….............……....…..…87
They Censor the LA Times and Protect Labastida, by Carlos Ramírez…………..88
Proceso Drug War Stories…………………………………………………………..94
Assassinated Journalist was a Cop…………………………………………...…….97
Mexico City Police Chief Calls for Holland-Style Drug Policy……..……….……104
Helicopter Robbed at Gunpoint……………………………………………………107
The Narco-Media......................................................................................................115
Ten Days that Shook the Screen…………………………………………………..123
Journalism With Bodyguards, by Ernesto Villanueva…………………………….138
TV Azteca, the Harasser, by Miguel Angel Granados Chapa……………...…….142
Hushhh… Money……………………………………………………………….….145
Re-Open the Buendia Case, by Carlos Ramírez………………………...………..148
Chapter Three
The Narco-State of Chiapas……………………………………………………….160
Welcome to Chiapas………………………….............……………………………160
Welcome to Tapachula……………………………............……………………….164
Drugs: The Official Passport to the North…………..........………………………168
Why Some Drugs Are Seized………………………….............…………………..173
The Rebels, not the Government, Slowed the Drug Trade……..........…………..176
Chabal Tak'in: There Is No Money……………………………...........………….183
The Colonel and His Troops……………………………………...........………….190
The State Police Station…………………………………………...........…………193
The Voices of Cerro Hueco………………………………………...........………..196
Mario Renato Menéndez Rodríguez ......................................................................203
Dare to Legalize, by Mario Menéndez ……………………..……………………214
The Sam Dillon Story ……………………………………………………………..236
Top Mexican Journalist Challenges NY Times ………………………………….246
NY Times Stumbles in Mexico, by Carlos Ramírez …………...........…………...248
Dillon Responds …………………………………………………………………..254
A Pulitzer At Stake, by Carlos Ramírez ……………………...…………………..272
Not The U.S. Embassy Page…………………………………...………………….277
31 Questions that Ambassador Davidow Refused to Answer…..………………..278
Chapter Four
Editorial: Election Fraud and the Narco……………………………..……………288
History of Electoral Fraud: 1988, 1994, 1999… 2000? …………………………..294
1988: The Fraud that Keeps on Taking……………………………..........……….294
1994: The Consolidation of Narco-Power …………………………............……...299
1999: The Stealing of Guerrero……………………………………...........…....….315
U.S. Agenda Revealed: What Washington Wants from Mexican Elections….….322
Pollsters Seek Meeting with Publisher: Narco News; "No Deals"……...………330
Hidden and Suspicious Sponsorship, an Editorial by El Universal.………...……..337
Shriek and Ye Shall Find, by Bob Balkin, Political Hotline ………………………340
Hidden Agendas by Electoral Delinquents……………………………...…………341
A. Stanley Greenberg with the PRI………………………………………..........…342
B. Allyn, Schoen and Berland: Unethical Behavior to Benefit Fox………............346
"Democracy Watch" Exposed………………………………………….…………354
The Texans on Fox's Team……………………………………………..........……356
A Message to Vicente Fox……………………………………………..........…….360
Citibank Implicated in Money Laundering for Fox Campaign ……..……………361
A Message from Marcos before the July 2, 2000 Elections……………………..369
Fraud Watch 2000: 101 Acts of Electoral Fraud……………………..………...…386
Mexican Computer Hackers to the Rescue of Democracy………………………417
PAN Accuses PRI: Narco………………………………………………...........…..419
Hackers Progressing: Expose One Political Trick Already………………………420
Davidow Shocker: Who Killed Charles Horman?………………….……………..424
Chapter Five
Fox Wins Mexican Presidency (2:30 a.m., July 3, 2000)…………………………429
Hackers Crack The Code………………………………………………………….435
Where's Vicente Fox Today? …………………………………………..…………440
Readers Respond……………………………………………………....…………..451
Roberto Hernández Elected?, by Isabel Arvide ………………………….………453
Drug Prohibition: A Threat to Democracy in América……………………………456
I. México and the Fall of the PRI…………………………………………........….456
II. Colombia: The Battlefield is All América……………………........…………...460
III. Texas: The Controlled Substance Behind the Conflict…….......……………..463
IV. Washington: Drug Money Laundering as Campaign Finance.......…………..466
V. Hackers, Human Beings and Authentic Journalism in América…........………469
Drug War Herbicide Kills Two-Year-Old Girl in Mexico………….……………..473
Chapter Six
The América Papers
"Colonel Cocaine"………………………………………………………...………..479
Drug War Colonel's Wife Talks…………………………………………...……….483
Vets to McCaffrey: Stop the Colombia Aid Package………………….………….484
The Importance of Drug Money to Election 2000, by Michael C.
Ruppert……...492
McCaffrey Explodes: New Yorker Statement to the Press…………………..…..515
University of California Censors Web Site on Colombia Conflict…………….….523
University Replies to Narco News……………………………………………..…..526
The Anatomy of Censorship………………………………………………………..532
FARC Condemns U. of California Censorship…………………………………….542
BURN Site is Back!………………………………………………………………...544
European Union Turning Against Plan Colombia……………………………….….547
Call of the Andes……………………………………………………………….……550
Why Didn't Al Gore Pick John Kerry for Vice President?……………………...…554
Europeans Refuse to Support Plan Colombia, by Allain Abellard,
Le Monde.…...560
Hidden Motives for a War: A Conversation in Exile…………………………...….564
Cover Art by Justine Ward
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