Michoacan, Mexico: A Simple Tale, of Two Futures

August 26, 2009 (LPAC)—Among the seven astronauts scheduled to fly the next shuttle mission, is Jose Hernandez, born in California to Mexican parents who were migrant field hands originally from the Mexican state of Michoacan. When he was a boy, Hernandez spent half the year in his parents' home town, La Piedad, Michoacan, and half the year in California. Since he was chosen to participate in NASA's astronaut program, Hernandez has been telling his life story to youth in Mexico and the United States, so that they become inspired to do great things.

"It's time that we start exploring other worlds. And future generations are going to thank us for it," Hernandez stated, in an August 20 interview with NASA.

The British Empire would not have it so. Today, according to the DEA, 30% of all methamphetamine consumed in the U.S. is produced in the state of Michoacan. El Universal of Aug. 23 reports that the meth "chemists," or cooks, in that state are all in their early 20s. They don't know any chemistry; they just follow simple instructions passed on by more experienced cooks. They are paid more than the "mules" (who carry the drugs), but it is a very risky business: there are regular explosions, burns, death from the vapors of the chemcial precursors, etc. The profit margin is high: meth sold in the U.S. brings in three times the cost of the chemical precursor inputs, and the turnaround is often only days, or at most weeks. They use sophisticated steel vessels which they just abandon, and move on to a new site.

How does Dope, Inc. recruit the cooks? According to the Universal story, "there aren't many job opportunities in Michoacan, and that is one reason why various members of a family or entire families join some cartel which operates in the state."

Michoacan, with 4 million inhabitants, has 1.5 million (38%) living in poverty, of which 600,000 (15%) live in extreme poverty, or what is called "food poverty"—i.e., they don't have enough to eat. Michoacan is one of the five poorest states Mexico. A 23-year-old cook named Carlos was interviewed by Universal: "People are really screwed; they no longer go over the border, so what's left? If you stay, you have to pay The Family or other cartels almost just to live; so better let them pay you, than to die screwed."

The article notes that the Mexican soldiers sent to bust the meth labs, are also 18-25 year old kids, just like the meth cooks.