9 August 2010
Background, Methodology.
YouTube (www.youtube.com) describes itself as the world's most popular online video community, allowing millions of people to discover, watch, and share originally created clips. The site provides a forum for people to connect with others and acts as a distribution platform for original content (YouTube, 4 May).
The method used to determine the occurrence of video clips about drug cartels consisted of searching for the desired content uploaded by any YouTube-registered individual, group, or organization, regardless of location, although an effort was made to focus the analysis on users claiming to be in Mexico. Cited figures were current as of 30 July and include those removed by the video-sharing website before that date.
Four of the 10 most-visited Internet sites in Mexico are of the social networking kind, of which the most visited is YouTube, in the third position overall (Etcetera, August 2009).2 An attempt to create a "Mexican YouTube" site failed, as the website only has 817 public videos and 2,100 members (www.stufferbox.com, 27 April).
'Narcocorridos' Remain Heavily Viewed Despite Attempted Official Bans.
"Narcocorridos" are songs whose lyrics often speak approvingly of illegal drug-related criminal activities and are one of the most widely used means used by certain Mexicans to learn about and discuss cartels and their violent activities.
One important aspect of "narcocorridos" is their currency, as their updated lyrics are used to discuss ongoing events or status of cartels. For example, a new song written by Teodoro Bello and sung by Los Tigres del Norte is called "La Granja " ("The Farm"), a metaphor for ongoing violence in Mexico that assigns specific characters to politicians, ordinary citizens, and cartels. The song compares the November 2008 plane crash that killed Interior Secretary Juan Camilo Mourino to a sparrow hawk that falls on "the farm," representing the country of Mexico (YouTube, 24 November 2009).
"Narcocorridos " and related video postings register the highest numbers of hits of any cartel-related YouTube communications".
The narcocorrido music genre is widely present in YouTube. Los Tigres del Norte was the first group to start singing this type of song (Gomez, 1999).6 7popular hit One called "La Camioneta Gris" ("The Gray Truck") is a romantic story of a trafficker and his girlfriend fleeing police in a pick-up truck and reported more than 2 million hits on YouTube (31 July 2007).
Another popular "narcocorrido " is "El Gallo de Oro" (The Golden Rooster) by Valentin Elizalde, a young norteno singer among whose fans was Sinaloa Cartel chief Joaquin Guzman Loera, alias "Chapo,"9 and who was executed by the rival Gulf Cartel in 2006 after performing the song in that criminal organization's operating area. Elizalde's interpretation of the single "A mis enemigos" ("To my enemies") had more than 2 million YouTube hits (9 May 2007).
"Los Tucanes de Tijuana " reported more than 1 million YouTube hits for their
song "Cien por Uno " ("One Hundred for One"), which tells the story of a drug lord's brother forced to pay his murdered sibling's enduring debt (YouTube, 18 January 2008).11 Baja California State officials accuse some of these "Norteno bands " of having close ties to traffickers.
Government officials try to restrict the public airing of narcocorridos and traditional broadcasters generally avoid programming them, but the Internet and black market offer alternative dissemination platforms.
Video Sharing by Cartels Less Frequent
Trafficking organizations and individuals use YouTube videos to threaten each other, but this method is used much less often.
Cartels or associated individuals or groups have posted videos on YouTube supporting their causes or threatening other criminal organizations. Following YouTube's terms of service, some of those clips have been removed when users flag them as inappropriate (YouTube, 4 May).16 Six such video clips were removed during the survey period; one of these was the on-camera killing of a Los Zetas member, which garnered over 500,000 hits (YouTube, 7 June 2009).
Cartel members break former alliances as they struggle over power and territory. Several clips have been uploaded by enemies of Los Zetas, such as the "DenunciandoporMexico" ("Denouncing for Mexico") channel, in which the Gulf Cartel distances itself from kidnappings, rapes, and bank robberies by Los Zetas (YouTube, 12 March). The site had just over 35,000 hits.
A site similar in content, but with more than 900,000 hits, was the uploaded direct threat from "Chapo," to the Los Zeta, at that time allied to the Gulf Cartel. The video, sung in hip-hop rhythm with foul language, promised revenge for the Gulf Cartel's killing of singer Elizalde (YouTube, 6 September 2007).
Some postings are simple shots of printed messages, like one uploaded by a YouTube user naming a group called "Mexico United Against Los Zetas." The typed message calls on
businessmen of Torreon, Coahuila State, to avoid certain night clubs Los Zetas owns (YouTube, 2 February).
Videos of Families Praising Police Officers Killed in Action Have Much Fewer Hits
Individual YouTube subscribers have uploaded videos honoring law enforcement and promising cartels that "they will not win this war. " One such
video, with over 200,000 viewings, shows destroyed police cars and killed officers over a slow-tempo song with lyrics, such as "even though my eyes cannot see you, I can feel you, I know you're here" (YouTube, 19 August 2009).
With more than 200,000 hits, the lyrics of one video honoring Federal Police tell of the death of an officer confronting crime: "This land of Durango was a witness, after being stained with the blood of a brave man… " (YouTube, 14 December 2007).
Some Videos Send Messages to Cartels
To a lesser degree, some individuals and groups self-described as "enemies of cartels" who are affected by drug-related violence also use YouTube to express their anger against cartels.
Businessmen from the US border city of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, posted a 90-second video ordering cartels to leave their city and threatened to use an "eye for an eye" strategy to combat them (YouTube, 14 June 2008).
One representative individual YouTube user, "romanticomexicano," posted 26 videos lashing out against cartel violence, including a recording that received over 100,000 viewings titled "A message for narcos in Mexico." The song curses criminals to the rhythm of the "3+1" song by the musical group Panda and contains lyrics such as "I am tired of you and your lies" (YouTube, 30 March 2009).
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