How U.S. Policy Fueled Mexico’s Cartel Crisis | Under the Shadow Season 2, Episode 10

Drugs. They have been the boogeyman across Latin America for decades. An excuse that has led to so much violence. And Trump is turning up the temperature.
Mexican army soldier at the Independence Day Parade, September 16, 2013 in León, Guanajuato, Mexico. (Tomas Castelazo / CC BY-SA 3.0)

The U.S. has funneled billions into its allies in Latin America under the guise of fighting the drug traffickers. It has ripped apart countries. And the violence has only gotten worse. Decades of fighting, with little to show for it except human rights abuses, displacement, and tens of thousands of dead and disappeared.

In the last episode, host Michael Fox took you to Mexico City to walk through Mexico’s Museum of Interventions to witness firsthand the long history of foreign and, in particular, U.S. intervention in the country. 

Today, he brings listeners up to the present, diving head-first into the U.S.-backed drug war in Mexico, which has overtaken the country in recent decades and fueled an epidemic of violence that has disappeared more than 100,000 people over the last 20 years. We’ll look at Trump’s threats and the repercussions they are having in the country, and we’ll also hear the voices of Mexicans who are standing up.

This is Episode 10 of Under the Shadow, Season 2.


Under the Shadow is an investigative narrative podcast series that walks back in time, telling the story of the past by visiting momentous places in the present. Season 2 responds in real time to the Trump administration’s onslaught on Latin America.

Script editing by Heather Gies. Hosted, written, produced, mixed, and edited by Michael Fox.

This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.

Theme music by Michael Fox’s band, Monte Perdido. Monte Perdido’s 2024 album Ofrenda is available on Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, YouTube or wherever you listen to music.

Other music from Blue Dot Sessions and Epidemic Sound.

Many thanks to the Mexico-based journalists Clayton Conn and Tamara Pearson for their reporting in this episode.


Check out the first season of Under the Shadow here.


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