Southwest Reads: El Narco In-Person
Discuss the stories of the Southwest with the Southwest Reads book club on the fourth Wednesday of every other month! Help us decide what to read next by voting here!

This month's read is El Narco: Inside Mexico's Criminal Insurgency by Ioan Grillo.

The world has watched, stunned, the bloodshed in Mexico. Forty thousand murdered since 2006; police chiefs shot within hours of taking office; mass graves comparable to those of civil wars; car bombs shattering storefronts; headless corpses heaped in town squares. And it is all because a few Americans are getting high. Or is it part of a worldwide shadow economy that threatens Mexico's democracy? The United States throws Black Hawk helicopters, DEA assistance, and lots of money at the problem. But in secret, Washington is at a loss. Who are these mysterious figures who threaten Mexico's democracy? What is El Narco?

El Narco is not a gang; it is a movement and an industry drawing in hundreds of thousands, from bullet-riddled barrios to marijuana-covered mountains. The conflict spawned by El Narco has given rise to paramilitary death squads with tens of thousands of men-at-arms battling from Guatemala to the Texas border—and beyond.

Pick up a copy of this month's book from the Downtown Library Information Desk. Email libraryprograms@flagstaffpubliclibrary.org or call 928-213-2332 for additional information.

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