Anabel Hernndez: The Woman the Cartels Mexican President Want Dead

➡ The text discusses the corruption in Mexico, where the justice system is failing and crime is rampant. The author suggests that the Mexican government is the biggest cartel, implying a deep-seated corruption. The author also shares a personal story of being targeted for assassination by both the government and cartels due to her investigative journalism. The text ends with the author’s motivation for her work, which is the unresolved kidnapping and murder of her father.
➡ The speaker discusses the deep-rooted corruption in Mexico, where the government and criminal gangs have become intertwined. They reveal that many of these gangs, involved in kidnapping and extortion, are protected by the police and government officials. The speaker also mentions their investigation into this corruption, which led to the discovery that the Mexican government has been protecting drug cartels for years. Lastly, they discuss their personal experience with this corruption, when their family was extorted following their father’s murder.
➡ The Mexican government, under Enrique Pena Nieto, allegedly helped notorious drug lord El Chapo escape and received campaign funds from him. The U.S. government pressured Mexico to recapture El Chapo, leading to his arrest in 2016. A platform called the Franzes family offers exclusive courses on strategy, life, faith, and business for $10 a month. Lastly, the Mexican government is deeply involved with organized crime, with many officials allegedly on the payroll of drug cartels, leading to widespread corruption and fear among the Mexican population.
➡ The Mexican government and drug cartels are deeply intertwined, with cartels influencing elections and even placing their own candidates in positions of power. The cartels are involved in various illegal activities, including drug and human trafficking, and petroleum theft. Despite pressure from the U.S., the situation is unlikely to change without a complete overhaul of Mexico’s systems of democracy, justice, and elections, as well as international efforts to combat drug demand and money laundering. This complex issue is a global concern, as the cartels’ influence extends beyond Mexico.
➡ The journalist in the interview is deeply committed to uncovering corruption and violence in Mexico, often working over 18 hours a day. She believes her work is not just a job, but a personal fight against the cartels and the suffering they cause. She is currently working on a book that will provide insights into the mind of a drug lord, based on her interviews with cartel members. The interviewer appreciates her work and hopes it will help people understand the complex relationship between the cartels and the Mexican government.

When you see a country where the justice doesn’t exist, where any kind of crimes little bears organized crime. When you see that no one’s goes to jail, even the corrupted officials, you can understand that many people feels that has the doors open to criminals. And not just from the society, also from the government. So you have a country that doesn’t work. In 2013, did the cartels raid your house? They were actually trying to kill you. They raided your house. Was not the cartel. Was the police. Was the members of the team of Genaro Garcia Luna they ordered to kill me.

Why the Sinaloa cartel became the most important cartel in the world? Why El Chapo Guzman the government was not able to catch him and put him in jail. Why the violence of the cartels exist? Who helped them to kill, to disappear? People Talking with the members of the Sinaloa cartel. Talking with the members of the Jalisco Neva Generacion talking with the members of el Cartel del Golfo. Talking to all these people. After reading thousands of pages of indictments in United States trials in the United States, I can tell you that the biggest cartel in Mexico is not the Sinaloa Cartel.

It’s not the cartel Jalis Cone Vajenacio. It’s the Mexican government. Foreign. Welcome to another sit down with Michael Francis. Hope everybody is doing well. All is very good, very blessed on this end, my friends. And as always, I give all the praise, honor, glory and thanksgiving to our God. For that, again, you know, I want to thank all of you that have been subscribing as a birthday present for me. That’s right. My birthday is May 27th and my team has challenged me. They say, Michael, you never ask people to subscribe. Why don’t you do that? Because I think you can hit 2 million subscribers by your birthday in May.

And we’re very close, so. So many people have been subscribing, I can’t even tell you the amount. It’s been overwhelming. I want to thank all of you. And if anybody is enjoying this and watching this, please subscribe. You know, and you know, help us get to that 2 million. That would be a birthday present. And we will return the favor, I promise you on that. So thanks for all of you again, I realize, okay, I wouldn’t have a platform without all of you enjoying the content and being so loyal. So I appreciate it very much. You know, all the goings on in Mexico has been to everybody’s interest here in the United States.

A lot of people travel from the States into Mexico. Obviously a couple of weeks back, we had some, you know, uprisings there, I would say, by the cartels. When El Mencho, one of the leaders of the cartels there was in Jalisco was. Was killed. And there’s been some unrest. It seems to be calm right now, but there’s still a lot of interest and we still need a lot of insight into what’s really going on there. What is this relationship between the cartels and the. And the Mexican government? Why is there so corrupt? Why do they have so much power? What’s going on? So many questions.

Is it going to be okay to travel there? A lot of things. I’ve been bringing on a lot of guests that have been answering questions and really providing a lot of good information. Two DEA agents that were involved in the capture of El Chapo, you know, other people that have really provided a lot of information just to give us some security, some knowledge. If we want to travel there, we want to know what’s going on. You know, it’s very important. Today I have a very special guest, and I mean really special. And she hasn’t spoken before, to my knowledge, about any of this on any other platform to date.

Her name is Annabel Hernandez, a woman, obviously, with a story that’s very, very powerful. She’s the biggest investigative journalist in Mexico. So important that. That the Mexican government itself tried to assassinate her. That’s correct. Not only the cartels tried to assassinate her, but the Mexican government tried to assassinate her. They actually came to her house and tried to get her, kidnap her and take care of her. At that point in time, they took her security guards away. She wasn’t home, thank God for that. And she’s now living in an undisclosed place. But she is very honest.

Her father was kidnapped many, many years ago, and it really prompted her to get into really what’s going on in her country of Mexico. And she has some very fascinating things to say. One of the things she said, I want you to stay till the end. Because I asked her some very specific questions about the relationship between the Mexican government at the highest level and the cartels. And what she had to say was fascinating. It was eye opening. And I want you to stay and listen to that. It’s really important. I mean, look, they’re our neighbors.

Mexico is our neighbors to the south, just like Canada is our neighbor to the north. And we want to know what’s going on there. We want to know what’s going on with the drug trafficking into the United States, how we can get a handle on this, how we can stop the demand. It’s not only about closing the border. She sheds a lot of light on the relationship between the cartels and the Mexican government. She’s fearless, very courageous. I have a lot of respect for her. She doesn’t have to be doing this, but she cares she. About her country and its people, and she’s risking her life to talk about it.

So I think you’re really going to enjoy this. I’m going to bring her back, without a doubt, because she wrote a couple of books and I’m getting into the books now. There’s fascinating information that she’s put out there. You’re going to find her to be very credible. She has no axe to grind other than to tell the truth and to really make bring to light what’s going on in that country. So, with no further delay, my very, very special guest. And I really mean this. I love when a woman, you know, really exerts herself like this.

Very, very courageous and, and I’m just proud of her myself. Annabel Hernandez. Here she is. Annabelle, this. This could be one of the most fascinating interviews that I believe I’ve ever had because you have so much information about such an interesting topic. And that’s all the goings on in Mexico, not only lately, but what’s been going on there for quite some time. And I have to start out with this because this is very disturbing to me that any woman would ever be marked for an assassination by either a cartel, a government or anyone else. But because of your investigative work that has been so extensive with respect to the Mexican cartels and the Mexican government, it’s a fact that you’ve.

You’ve had assassination attempts on your life. Is that correct? Yeah, sadly. Sadly, it’s correct. And I have to say that it’s not just me. Many hundreds of journalists in Mexico have been under threats by the government and by the cartels. And as you know, Mexico right now currently is one of the most dangerous places to be a journalist in the world. Yes. And I visit Mexico quite a bit. My wife is Mexican. We have a place in Puerto Vallarta that we go to quite frequently. Yes, we have a place in Puerto Vallarta that we go to quite frequently.

And of course, lately with what’s going on, we haven’t. We haven’t been visiting there. We’ve been advised not to. But let me, Let me take you back to the year 2000, when I believe all this started for you, and maybe you can bring me up to date on how you got started. Some of Your investigation. I know it’s El Mencho and El Mayo and El Chapo and everyone else that you’ve investigated along with the government. So maybe you can bring us back and just tell us some of your experiences and how this all started. Well, I have to say that I.

I grad graduate from. From the School of journalists in 1993, I start to be. I start to be the journal a journalist in that. In that moment, I was. I was able to entry to one of the most important diaries in Mexico, Color Reforma. That year was created. And I was, I have to say, like a normal journalist. Of course, with my codes of ethics, I always was interested in do investigations go deeply to the issues. But what changed my life forever as a woman, as a mother, as a daughter, as a person, as a journalist, was the kidnap and murder of my dearest father.

That happened on December of 2012 of 2000. You know, from what I understand, you have to be a pretty courageous person to start investigating the cartels and especially their connection to the Mexican government. So it takes a special person to be able to do something like that. What got you interested in that? Sadly, me, my family, we never were able to know who kidnapped and murdered to my father. So when we went to the authorities to request for justice, just some hours after that, some of the persons that would do the investigation related with the murder of my father, they start to extortion to my family to pay money to get justice.

So in that moment, I really feel in myself that, yes, exist a lot of criminals in Mexico, but when the government act also as a criminal, that is the worst part. So since that moment, I really understand that all these gangs in that period in Mexico exist a lot of gangs that used to kidnap people for money. Many of these gangs were really brutal. They used to cut parts of the victims, send these parts to the families to request millions of dollars to be able to rescue their relatives. So what I was able to understand is that many of these gangs were protected by the police, by members of the government, by militaries.

So in that moment, I really start to investigate corruption in Mexico. All right. People always ask me, michael, you’re Italian, why Armenian wine? Let me tell you something. Armenia has been making wine for over 6,200 years. Before the French, before the Italians, even. Even before the pyramids. When I tasted the wine, I knew we had a hit. Franzeastwine.com Try it yourself. You’ll definitely understand. Let’s get back to the video. And investigating corruption in Mexico, I was able to Discover that the drug cartes in Mexico are able to exist, are able to control my country. Because the Mexican government during many, many, many years have been protecting the cartels.

Annabelle, why do you think the government was so involved with the cartels? How did that begin? And why did they get so. I don’t know if I want to use the word controlled, but how did, how did they become so involved with the cartels? I mean, this is the government. Government is about law enforcement for one thing. The cartels are a criminal organization. Why do you think that they just got so involved with one another? So you have to. We have to go back like 75 years behind. So you have to understand that Mexico is a Mexico that there is not respect of the rule of this is Mexico.

Sadly, as many other Latin American countries are very corrupted. The institutions are very weak, the democracy is very weak. The poverty of the people for the government manipulate easily to the society. So in the middle of the last century, I mean in 90, 1965, 1960, the presidents in Mexico start to try to manage the organized crime. Gangs in that period were little gangs. But since that moment, until now, trying to manage, trying to control, trying to do some. How can I say, agreements with the organized crime. And then the Mexican government and the organized crime became almost the same, became partners through the corruption.

So the Mexican government tried to manage to control the gangs, but at the end the gangs it to the Mexican government. So is it because the cartels and the gangs had money and were able to assist, you know, not only the people in Mexico, but also the government? Was it all about money at the end of the day? Is that really what it was about? I really. If you. If you ask me this in. If we really analyze the issue, the problem is much more complex than that because in this equation exist different factors. As I told you, Mexico, the respect of rule, law is not strong, it’s very weak.

The institutions are very weak. The army, yes, they have their guns, they have. But the cost of ethics are very weak. We are talking about that the justice almost doesn’t exist in Mexico. The 96%, 96% of the crimes committed in Mexico are impugned. This is an official statistic. When you see a country where the. Where the justice doesn’t exist, where any kind of crimes, little beers, organized crime. When you see that no one goes to jail, even the corrupted officials, you can understand that many people fields that has the doors open to the criminals. And not just from the society, also from the government.

So you have a country that doesn’t works. So if you have all this environment, you have these guys, guys, the members of the cartels that are able to do a lot of business. Why? Why did drug cartels exist? Michael, you know it very well. These cartels exist because it’s a market, huge market of consumers. The drug cartels don’t exist just because they want to. They exist because there’s a consumers, millions of consumers in the planet that request for them, for the products that they produce and they traffic. So exist this and exist, of course, a very weak government in Mexico, deeply corrupted in all the levels and that are part of this environment.

So if you ask me, that is just money. It’s not just money. It just is also one country that almost push you to became a criminal. Wow. And I know you did. You know, we’ve always heard here in America that, you know, the Mexican government was corrupt and that they were always working along with the cartels. You actually did a. A five year investigation and you uncovered the fact that some of the Mexican government people were working for the Sinaloa cartel. Isn’t that correct? Yeah. In 2010, I was able to publish my book. Narcoland is also translated in English.

You can find it there. And I was able to publish this investigation after five years of very deep investigation. And when I say deep is because I was able to talk with members of the Sinaloa cartel. I was able to talk with members of the government that were in the payroll of the Sinaloa cartel. I was able to get access to some secret documents from the Mexico government. So through this long investigation, I was able to put on the table, through this book, one investigation that was able to change the point of view inside in Mexico and outside Mexico about how really the cartels operate and how really the cartels operate.

Why the Sinaloa cartel became the most important cartel in the world. Why El Chapo Guzman, the government was not able to catch him and put him in jail, why the violence of the cartels exist, who helped them to kill, to disappear people, was the Mexican government. I was able to say and prove that in that year, 2010, the Chief of the police in Mexico, the most powerful policeman in Mexico, Hernado Garcia Luna, the Secretary of Public Safety, was working for the Sinaloa Cartes. And that’s why he and his team want to kill me. Fortunately, I’m here talking with you.

And now he’s in a maximum security jail in United states because in 2023, finally he was sentenced to 36 years in jail in by the judge in one federal court in New York and he was accused by the same crimes that I revealed in 2010. So yes, I was able to see this, to be able to confirm that. And I think that was very, very painful for me as a Mexican discover that you can even trust in the government. And that took me back to the murder of my father. And that took me back why we weren’t able to get justice in that time.

Annabelle, did you ever find out who was responsible for your dad’s murder? I mean, specifically? No, no. I, I, many times I, I, I thought to, to do my own investigation. But you know, I think that yeah, maybe I, I, I am capable to, to investigate. I was now it’s too much time ago, but in that moment maybe I was capable to do the investigation, do my investigation and know who did it. But you know, without justice, without a legal justice, what do you know? What do you do with that information? I think you, you can understand how difficult is that.

Yes, being that point. And I, I didn’t want to be in that, in that position. So no, I don’t know, we don’t know who did it. But it was the cartels you believe, correct? No, no, I’m sure not. I’m sure that was a gang that exists in Mexico City that in that moment the what was not the cartels. What the cartels was not involved in that kind of little kidnapped. My, my father was not a richest man. He was just a, an engineer that has his small company. So no, was not the cartels, was, was just a gang that exist used to exist in Mexico City.

Let me ask you this. El Chapo at one time was so involved with the Mexican government corruption. Wise and I believe it was this General Garcia Luna that might have helped him escape from prison. The second time that he escaped is that I know the government. You’ve you uncovered that the government assisted him in that second prison escape. Is that correct? In his. Well, the government helped him in his. Because he escaped twice. So he escaped on 2001 and Genaro Garcia Luna, this policeman helped him to do that and he escaped also in 2015, Garcia Luna was not there in power anymore.

He wasn’t in charge anymore. But the government of Enrique Pena Nieto helped to El Chapo to escape, of course. And during the trial against El Chapo in New York, the world was noticed that El Chapo also put some money in the presidential campaign of Enrique Pena Nieto. So you can understand now why the government of Pena Nieto helped to El Chapo to escape in your investigation, was it pressure from the American government that finally had Mexico really go after El Chapo? Absolutely. And finally get him? Absolutely. I can tell you that since 2014, when El Chapo was arrested in Mazatlan, the operation was head by the US government.

More than that, members of the DEA were there in that operation. They took by themselves to a chapagus man. And that was the problem. I mean the Enrique Pena Nieto government didn’t want to arrest El Chapo Guzman again because the US government put pressure when to take them take him is because. Is that the reason why El Chapo Guzman was arrested again? And because Enrique Pena government didn’t want to arrest him. That’s why they helped him to escape in 2015 and finally he was arrested in 2016. And of course was also because the pressure of the U.S.

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Isn’t it? In. In 2013, did the cartels raid your house? They were actually trying to kill you. They raided your house. Was not the cartel was the police. It wasn’t. Was the members of the. The team of Genaro Garcia Luna. So when I published my book on 2010, Genaro Garcia Luna and Luis Cadenas Palomino that are the co defenders in court in United States they ordered to kill me. So was a lot of attempts in 2013. Garcia Luna and Carvenas Palomino, these two chief of police were not more in charge, but all their dirty team still there.

So that were them who organized this attempt to kill me in my own house in 2013. Were you not home at that time? Was any of your family members home or. I was not there, but my bodyguards were outside my house. And this command of people were 11 policemen that take away my bodyguards. They hit them and they throw them away from. From my house and they entry. They put guns in the heads of my neighbors. And it was really a terrible thing. They was sure that I was inside my house because my bodyguards were outside.

So I think that create the confusion and that’s why they think Annabel is inside. Fortunately, I was not there. Annabelle, let me ask you, are you today who are you more concerned about? The cartels or the Mexican government? As far as you know, your life is concerned, who do you fear more? I think, Michael, that this is a very interesting question that you should not do just to me. You can go to Mexico City, walk through the streets and ask, ask to everyone. And I think the. The people in Mexico will tell you the same that me, I.

I am more afraid of the government. Because for me, after more than we are talking about more than 20 years investigating the drug cartels, I mean I start to investigate the Sinaloa cartel on 2005. Specifically we have. I have now 21 years investigating these organized crime organizations. What I discovered and I think this is a point of another maybe discussion, long discussion is that for me, in my knowledgement, in my own experience, talking with the members of the Sinaloa cartel, talking with the members of the cartel Jaliscone Baja, talking with the members of El Cartel del Golfo, talking to all these people, after reading thousands of page of indictments in United States trials in United States.

I can tell you that the biggest cartel in Mexico is not the Sinaloa cartel. It’s not the cartel Jalis cone of a generation is the Mexican government. You know, it’s fascinating, Annabelle. I’ve spoken to a number of DEA agents that have told me, you know, just how violent the cartels were. And I don’t have to get into it all now, but one of the things that was really disturbing or disgusting, whatever word you want to use, I know that. And you uncovered this in 2014, I believe 43 students were massacred. And it was a joint effort between the cartels and the police to uncover or find some heroin that was lost or stolen by the cartels.

And they actually massacred 43 students. Yeah, we are talking about that. Many parts of the Mexican government. Mayors, local police, state police and the army are in the payroll of these cartels. That example that you gave is crucial on this. So the students took some buses to go to one protest. So that night in Iguala on September of 2014, they took these buses and tried to get out from that city. But trying to get out from that city, the chief of the cartel that was the owner of. Of. Of kilograms of. Of. Of heroin that was inside, hide in these buses.

Order to the army, order to the federal police, order to the local police. Go and bring me my drugs. I’m paying you to do this, to protect me. So the authorities were the main responsibles of the attack, kidnap and murder of the students that night. And that’s why until now, the families of these 43 students haven’t get justice yet. Because the government is covering and covering and covering the participation of the authorities. And I can tell you something worse. One of the chiefs of the federal police that was involved working helping to this organize crime or crime gangs that used to operate there now, just today, right now, is the Secretary of Public Safety in Mexico, Omar Garcia Carpucho.

We are talking about the new Garcia Luna. And the story starts again. That’s the problem. Doesn’t matter who who party is in the power in Mexico. Could be the pri, could be the pan, could be Morena. The three main parties in Mexico that have been ruling in Mexico since the last century until now. And even that no matter which is the name of the new president, woman or man in Mexico, deeply the government institutions are penetrate by the organized crime. So this is. How can I said like, like. Like the. Like the movie Infinity Story story without.

This is so. It’s so hard to understand how a government can be so deeply involved in, in criminal activity. I mean, we have, we have corruption here in the United States, but never to the degree that we. That you’re telling us about in Mexico, isn’t it? We were told that El Mencho actually paid millions of dollars to Sheinbaum, the current president, to be left alone. Yeah. Helped her in her campaign to become president. Yeah. I was investigating that issue on 2024. I was able to do these investigations in two parts. The first notice that I have that El Mencho has some connections with the federal government was at the beginning of 2024.

My sources that came from the cartel and also came from the army in Mexico. The Secretary of Marines. Marines is more accurate. They told me that Mencho organized one meeting in Puerto Vallarta. Many of his regional commanders assist to this meeting. And he said that the Mexican government request to the cartel support to Claudia Schoenbau that was the official candidate for the presidency in Mexico during the day of the election. So the truth is that, and this is a fact that Claudia Schenbaun more of her votes, she win the presidency. More of her votes came in regions that were under the control of the Sinaloa Constell and under the control of Carte Jalisco Neva Generacion in return for the help.

What Mencho said to his people is that the government promised to protect them and not avoid any more extraditions to United States because, you know, and also the US Government knows that what really scare to the drug lords in Mexico is be extradited to the United States. That’s the only thing that really worries to them. So they, they don’t. They’re not worried at all about the Mexican government. They’re worried about the United States and being extradited. Yeah, there was a Annabel. I actually heard a phone call between El Mencho and a government official and he was actually berating him, telling him, we paid you a lot of money, you know, for my protection.

Why are you bothering us? He was actually threatening the. The Mexican official. I forget what his name was. So it’s actually a fact that the only reason El Mencho was really captured and killed was because of the American government. True? Absolutely. For me, it’s really clear. For me, it’s really clear. And I got information that not just the intelligence information that where El Mencho was that day, but also I got information that members of the US Government were in situ, were there during the operation to. To be able to get El Mencho. So there was a time when President Trump wanted to bring troops into or wanted to help the Mexican government go after the cartels in Mexico, actually send in our military.

And Sheinbaum said, no, absolutely not. So that was probably because she had that relationship with El Mencho, right? With El Mencho and with members of the Sinaloa cartel. I mean, as I already told you, Claudia Schoenbaugh win the election. But the regions where she get more votes were the sons, were the areas where El Carte de Sinaloa and El Carte del Jalisco has totally control of the territory. So Claudia, not just Claudia Schoenbaum, the president in Mexico, not just get help from the Sinaloa, from the Carte Jalisco, but also from El Mayo Zambada, families, relatives of El Mayo Zambada.

And I have proofs of this. I published that in my last book, the Secret Lopez Obrador and his Ties with the Sinaloa Cartel. I was able to prove that members of the family of El Mayo Sambada, the head of the Sinaloa cartel, were doing propaganda to get more votes for Celia Shane Mount. Openly. Openly. So we are talking about that. I know maybe, and I have to say also for me, is not comfortable. It’s not nice. I don’t like when Donald Trump said Mexico is not ruled by the government. Mexico is ruled by the cartels. I don’t like when Donald Trump said accused to the Mexican government to have an inacceptable relations with this, with the, with the cartels.

I don’t like that. But it’s true. I have been proving this during the last 20 years. It’s true. Sadly, it’s true. So the Mexican government, to sum it up, they don’t have the will or the desire to try to arrest and eradicate or get rid of the cartels. They want to coexist. Michael, I think, if you ask me, really, I think that right now, in my opinion. It’s not just coexist is a little more than that. Because I think when you talk coexist, okay, you are here and I am here and okay, we are in the same path, we are in the same country, but we have to coexist.

I’m talking about this. I’m talking about the cartels are part of the government and the government is part of the cartels. We are talking about this because right now the cartels are not just paying bribes to Mexican officials. They put mayors in Mexico, thousands of them in Mexico. They nominate candidates to be governors. They support presidential campaigns. So we are talking about something deeper than just coexist it’s like. It’s like. Like be almost one single entity. So they are, they’re. What you’re saying is that the Mexican government and the cartels are basically one in the same.

That’s the same that. That this is the evolution was not like this on 1960. When we start to talk was not used to not be like this. But the corruption and this phenomenon start to. To the government at the beginning was stronger than the cartels. Then the cartels start to be stronger than the government. But now they are partners. Partners killing people in Mexico. Partners disappearing people in Mexico. Partners in trafficking kids and women. Partners in trafficking drugs to United States and other parts of the planet. We are talking about this. Annabelle, is it. This is fascinating.

Is it. Is it true that the cartels are also involved in human trafficking? Yes. Of children even. This is what we were told. This is what we hear. De agent mentioned that. And now the new big business for them is also traffic with petroleum. They openly, with the help of the Mexican government, steal petroleum and export this petroleum to the world illegally. And also they import illegal gasoline, illegal diesel from outside to Mexico with the help of the government. So we are talking about a very huge organized crime organizations that does much more than just trafficking drugs.

These organizations are really very, very dangerous. Not just for Mexico, not just for the continent. They are very dangerous for all the world. We are talking about that El Cartel de Sinaloa has presence in the 60%, 60% of the planet. And the Carte Jalisco, Nova Generacion. Almost. Almost is in that. In that percentage. We’re talking about organizations that are not just. Not just contaminate Mexico. They are contaminating everything. Do you ever see this changing? It sounds like it’s. It’s impossible to separate the cartels and the government. It’s just. It’s part of the culture. Do you ever see it changing and is the only way it would change, it seems would be really exerting pressure the United States exerting pressure on the Mexican government.

But I don’t even from what I’m hearing from you, I don’t even think that would change anything because it’s cultural. Yeah, I think that what is happening in Mexico is exactly example of a failed state. State things doesn’t work in Mexico. But to be able to resolve the. This very complex problem is not just if US government put pressure, as you already said, that will not resolve the things. And I think right now that things will not be able to be fixed even if one very clean and honest person became the president in Mexico. To really fight against this power in Mexico, United States government is not enough.

You need an international community that really put their eyes and focus in this virus that is in Mexico. And to fight against this problem, you also have to fight against the levels of consumers in the world because again, all this exists because it’s people that buy the drugs, is people buying these illegal petroleum, is people buying these kids, is people buying these women that are trafficked. So these kind of problems, as I said at the beginning, are very complex. So we have to change absolutely the point of view of the issue. We have to move this and see the things absolute different.

Okay, yes, you need to change this Mexican government very corrupted. You have to create a new system. Have to Mexico to create a new system of democracy, a new system for elections, a new system for justice. You need a new system in the Congress. You need a really new system. Not just new government, new system. But when you create this, you also have to protect that this system is not it. Again, by the cartels. And to be able to come back to the cartels, you have to combat the traffic of guns. You have the combat to traffic of the illegal precursors, chemicals that came from different parts of the world to produce panthal and other drugs in Mexico.

You have to fight against the laundry money. And excuse me, Mike, you know that the laundry money is not in Mexico. The laundry money is United States, is in Europe, is in Japan, is in China, it’s not in Mexico. So you have, if really someone want to do something about what is happening in Mexico, it needs much more than the pressure of the Jewish government. So it would be an international effort that would have to change the system of government, the system of operation in Mexico. Annabelle, let me ask you, this is very courageous of you to even come on, you know, this podcast and talk about it.

How do you feel? How do you go day to day? I mean, I mean basically your life is in danger. How do you deal with it? How do you exist? It’s very. It’s very complicated. Try to, to explain that, Michael, because it’s clear for the audience. And I don’t want to lie. I don’t want to lie. It’s clear. It’s clear for the audience. That for me is not just a work as a journalist. I don’t want to lie. It’s not just that I’m a good journalist. I am very accurate. But it’s not just that. For me, it’s a personal issue.

This corruption, this pain in Mexico, these people that is disappeared. These people that is murdered, these people that is kidnapped, these people that suffer extortions. We are talking about millions of Mexicans. So for me, it’s a very personal fight and a very personal story. It’s not just about the cartels. And I think that this is the only way how I can, I can be there all the days, if you ask me. Okay, the day has 24 hours. How many hours spent, Annabel, investigating, trying to contact a new source, trying to understand, doing interviews to the members of the cartels to try to know what is in their minds, trying to find the wife, the lover, the daughter, the.

The. The sister of the me, members of women, members in members of the cartels that for me have been wonderful sources to try to understand how they operate, how to manage, how to find the weakness inside the cartels. And I have, I have found a lot of this. But what. I spent more than 18, 18 hours per day. So I dedicate really a very main part of my life to do this. And it’s difficult because you have to hear all these horrible stories of corruption, of death, of pain. And I suffer doing this work. I cannot say, I don’t care.

I cannot say. It’s just my job as a journalist. It’s not just like that. So it’s maybe a big contradiction. But I suffer doing this work. But I understand that this work is useful for the society and I hope it’s not just useful for the Mexican society. I also think that maybe some of my investigations could give some answers to the people that really want to understand and fight against these cartels. No one will be able to fight against them if you don’t understand what is inside their mind. Their mind. The next months, I will publish one book that will change, will change many, many points of view about what is inside, what is in the head of the drug lord.

I was able to done a very deep, deep interview to one of the most important members of the cartels in Mexico. So I think that this new investigation will open eyes about what really is happening inside. Well, Annabelle, I so appreciate what you’re doing. I’ve been visiting Mexico for the last 20 years and always a great experience. I love the Mexican people. They’re always so warm and outgoing every time we go and, you know, it’s always wonderful and it’s. It’s very disturbing to hear, you know, what some people have to live under and, and what you’re doing is fascinating and so important, you know, to let people understand what’s really going on, you know, the relationship between the cartels and the Mexican government.

And this is very courageous of you, you know, and I. I really appreciate you coming on this podcast, and my viewers are really going to appreciate it, and I really would love to, you know, the information on your book, I want to post it so I can recommend that people really understand what’s going on there. And this is. I have to commend you. It’s one of the most fascinating interviews and certainly really gave insight into what’s going on in the Mexican. In the country of Mexico. So I appreciate it so much. I would probably love to have you on again.

I have so many other questions, and maybe we can work that out. But I really want to thank you, you know, thank you so much for coming on. I’m going to pray for your protection. I really mean that. And I know my wife is even going to appreciate her being of Mexican descent and her whole family. So thank you very much. And I really mean that from the bottom of my heart. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks to you, Mike, to give me this important space. It’s a privilege to, for me be. Be here with you. Thank you.

Okay. My friends, you know, so many things that she said were so eye opening and so fascinating. I mean, the, the courage this, this woman is displaying is just really unreal. And I really mean that. But, you know, when I asked her, does the Mexican government just want to coexist with the cartels? Do they not have the will or. And the desire to eradicate them? Would it cause too much mayhem in the country? Would they sacrifice too many lives? Would there be too much bloodshed? So they just want to coexist? I asked her that and her answer was fascinating.

She said, michael, it’s not about them coexisting. She said, quote, they are one and the same. The cartels and the Mexican government are one and the same. What an effort is going to. It’s going to take, you know, to ever break that. That collusion among them. That’s all you can call it. They’re one in the same. That’s how powerful these cartels are. And people don’t even compare the mafia in America to the cartels. There’s no comparison. We had influence. We had a certain amount of control. But when the United States said, enough, that was it. We couldn’t fight them.

We couldn’t go to battle with them. We couldn’t shoot them. We couldn’t do anything. When the United States said enough, it was it. They put the RICO law, in fact, they turned people into informants and they put a crushing blow on the life. That’s it. Mexico can’t do that. The cartels are a paramilitary over, believe me. And it’s, it’s disgusting to hear that most of the arms that they’re getting are coming from the United States or a good portion of that. It would be a huge fight. It would be a war. It would be a civil war.

But they’re one in the same. That’s why there’s no desire for that. They’re one in the same. Unbelievable stuff, people. So listen, I, I hope that you enjoyed this to the point where when I say enjoy it meaning that it’s information that you needed to hear. And we’re going to keep doing that, keep providing that and just fascinating. And Annabella, I really want to thank you. Very courageous of you to do what you’re doing and, you know, we’ll pray for you and hope that, you know, you’re safe. And again, we just really appreciate it. So that’s it, my friends.

How do I always leave you? Same way. Be safe. When you hear this stuff, you know, you have to be aware of what’s going on around you, you know, not only in the world, but in your neighborhoods. Just be safe, people. Be healthy. I always preach that. You know why? We got one life. Do the best you can with it. One body here on earth. Do the best you can with it. And of course, God bless each and every one of you, your family, your friends, your neighborhoods, your communities. God bless America and God bless what’s going on in the world.

When I say God bless, let’s let all of this evilness stop. You know, we know it’s never going to happen, but maybe if God continues to bless us, things will get better and that’s all we can hope for. Yes, I’ll see you next time. Stay tuned and thank you for subscribing.
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