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The Intelligence from The Economist

From Chapo to Mencho: Mexico’s cartels

The Intelligence from The Economist

The Economist

Global News, Daily News, News

4.53.7K Ratings

🗓️ 18 August 2020

⏱️ 23 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Mexico’s new top cartel, led by a kingpin called El Mencho, has taken the country’s shocking violence to a terrifyingly brazen new level. In Tunisia, ten years after a self-immolation sparked the Arab Spring, voters are disillusioned with democracy and even nostalgic for the old days. And reflecting on the pianist who lost the use of his right hand, and reinvented his playing around his left. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello and welcome to the Intelligence on Economist Radio.

0:07.7

I'm your host, Lane Green, filling in for Jason Palmer.

0:11.5

Every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

0:16.9

10 years ago, the self-immolation of a fruit petal in Tunisia sparked the beginning of

0:23.0

the Arab Spring.

0:25.1

But now Tunisia itself, the most promising country for democracy in the Arab world,

0:29.8

is disillusioned and even nostalgic for the past.

0:34.2

And Leon Fleischer was at the pinnacle of his career as a pianist when he gradually lost

0:38.7

the use of his right hand.

0:40.8

From despair and unsuccessful treatments, he went on to reinvent his playing around his

0:46.1

left hand.

0:47.6

Our obituaries editor looks back on his remarkable transformation.

0:56.2

But first, in Mexico, the world of organized crime has moved on quickly since the capture

1:06.3

of famed cartelboss Joaquin Guzman, better known as El Chapo, after decades at the top

1:12.9

and numerous jail breaks.

1:15.2

The murder rate is still sky high, but El Chapo's Cinaloa cartel has been eclipsed by

1:20.7

another group.

1:22.4

It only relatively recently appeared on America's list of drug traffickers, but out by the drug

1:27.6

enforcement administration.

1:30.1

This is the Halesco new generation cartel, led by a man named Nemesio Osegera Cervantes,

1:37.4

who, at his heavily armed followers, hailed him in a video last month, El Mencho.

1:47.7

El Mencho might not be the most famous name in the United States and around the world

...

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