Overview

The product of five years of investigative reporting, the subject of intense national controversy, and the source of death threats that forced the National Human Rights Commission to assign two full-time bodyguards to Anabel Hernández, The Lords of el Narco has been a publishing and political sensation in Mexico.The definitive history and anatomy of the drug cartels and the ""war on drugs"" that has cost more than 50,000 lives in just five years, the book explains in riveting detail how Mexico became a base for the mega-cartels of Latin America and one of the most violent places on the planet. Hernández reveals the complicity of Mexico's government and business elite. At every turn, she names names-not just the narcos and their immediate accomplices, but also the politicians, policemen, functionaries, judges and entrepreneurs who have collaborated with them. Hernández became a journalist after her father was kidnapped and killed and the police refused to investigate without a bribe. She gained national prominence in 2001 with her exposure of pharaonic spending on housekeeping at the presidential palace. All her previous books have also focused on corruption at the summit of power, under presidents Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderón.

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9781781682968

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Narcoland describes a disastrous 'war on drugs' that has led to more than 80,000 deaths in half a dozen years. This is a book that exposes how everything in Mexico is implicated in the 'narco system.' * Roberto Saviano * Anabel Hernández, journalist and author, accuses the Mexican state of complicity with the cartels, and says the 'war on drugs' is a sham. She's had headless animals left at her door and her family have been threatened by gunmen.... Narcoland became, and remains, a bestseller: more than 100,000 copies sold in Mexico. The success is impossible to overstate, a staggering figure for a non-fiction book in a country with indices of income and literacy incomparable to the American-European book-buying market. -- Ed Vulliamy * Observer * The most remarkable feature of Anabel Hernández's brave and invaluable account of Mexico's blood-drenched drug wars is that she survived long enough to write it... We would all be poorer without Hernández's determination to account for a civil conflict that has cost at least 60,000 lives. There could be no greater shame for Mexico should such a fearless and dedicated reporter come to any harm. * Sunday Times * Narcoland, with its explosive descriptions of decades of corruption permeating the upper echelons of government, leaves an extremely bad taste in the reader's mouth about the state of Mexico's perennially corrupt institutions - and begs the question: how much has changed? For Narcoland, Anabel Hernandez spent five years combing police, court and US papers, securing access to informers and sources and pursuing often fruitless requests for official files. The result is a searing indictment of a war on drugs she believes was a sham from the start. -- Jude Webber * Financial Times * The stark truth of a sham 'war'... A product of five years' investigative reporting, Hernández's meticulously researched explanation of the links between the Sinaloa cartel, the world's biggest criminal organisation, and Mexico's leadership makes for jaw-dropping reading. * Independent * In this brave work, the author argues that since the presidency of Gustavo Díaz Ordaz (1964-1970), all of Mexico's rulers have maintained close relations with groups that import, export, and sell illegal drugs. * La Jornada * Indispensable reading for anyone who wants to understand the origins of the violence ... An extraordinary book for making the necessary journey to our heart of darkness. * Letras Libres *

An ambitious and daring sketch of the political nexus that ensures the Mexican system of narcotics delivery to the U.S. - LA Times A definitive work on Cartel history. - Pop Matters Narcoland, with its explosive descriptions of decades of corruption permeating the upper echelons of government, leaves an extremely bad taste in the reader's mouth about the state of Mexico's perennially corrupt institutions - and begs the question: how much has changed? For Narcoland, Anabel Hernandez spent five years combing police, court and US papers, securing access to informers and sources and pursuing often fruitless requests for official files. The result is a searing indictment of a war on drugs. - Financial Times Anabel Hernandez exposes the most murderous drug organization in Mexico, the Mexican government. Of course, this level of corruption is only possible thanks to the moral and financial support of the leaders in Washington. - Charles Bowden, author of Murder City: Ciudad Juarez and the Global Economy's New Killing Fields What I appreciate in Anabel is not only her courage, it is her overall view that is so rare to find. In a country like Mexico, which has a deeply compromised democracy, the strength of reporters who assess these important issues is ultimately their attempt to save their democracy. While nailing politicians to their responsibilities, Anabel transforms her pages into an instrument for readers, an instrument of democracy. - from the Foreword by Roberto Saviano, author of Gomorrah Hernandez's investigation into corruption ... traces the collusion of government, law enforcement, and military figures with the narcos back at least to the 1970s ... Her book has sold over 170,000 copies in Mexico and she now lives protected by bodyguards. - Enrique Krauze, author of Mexico: Biography of Power, in The New York Review of Books

An ambitious and daring sketch of the political nexus that ensures the Mexican system of narcotics delivery to the U.S. -- LA Times A definitive work on Cartel history. -- Pop Matters Narcoland, with its explosive descriptions of decades of corruption permeating the upper echelons of government, leaves an extremely bad taste in the reader's mouth about the state of Mexico's perennially corrupt institutions - and begs the question: how much has changed? For Narcoland, Anabel Hernandez spent five years combing police, court and US papers, securing access to informers and sources and pursuing often fruitless requests for official files. The result is a searing indictment of a war on drugs. --Financial Times Anabel Hernandez exposes the most murderous drug organization in Mexico, the Mexican government. Of course, this level of corruption is only possible thanks to the moral and financial support of the leaders in Washington. --Charles Bowden, author of Murder City: Ciudad Juarez and the Global Economy's New Killing Fields What I appreciate in Anabel is not only her courage, it is her overall view that is so rare to find. In a country like Mexico, which has a deeply compromised democracy, the strength of reporters who assess these important issues is ultimately their attempt to save their democracy. While nailing politicians to their responsibilities, Anabel transforms her pages into an instrument for readers, an instrument of democracy. --from the Foreword by Roberto Saviano, author of Gomorrah Hernandez's investigation into corruption ... traces the collusion of government, law enforcement, and military figures with the narcos back at least to the 1970s ... Her book has sold over 170,000 copies in Mexico and she now lives protected by bodyguards. Enrique Krauze, author of Mexico: Biography of Powe r, in The New York Review of Books Indispensable reading for anyone who wants to understan

Author Information

Anabel Hernández is one of Mexico's leading investigative journalists. She has worked on national dailies including Reforma, Milenio, El Universal and its investigative supplement La Revista. Her previous books include La familia presidencial, Fin de fiesta en los pinos, and Los cómplices del presidente.

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