Trump attacks Mexico's drug cartels and her musicians

"I am the ruler of the roosters
From the jalisco cartel.
I have fighting roosters,
That duel for my crew. "

With their gently rocking heads, suitable leather jackets and knowing smile, the appearance hardly screams for controversy - at least not for the inexperienced observer. But last month was a group that was exactly the same song-" El del paleque "(" He from the Hahnkampfarena ")-sang for the first time in an underlying way from the united states. Critics explain that this raises concerns about freedom of expression in America.

The controversy around Narcocorridos

The claim of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs? "Glorification of a drug boss." The song is one of the Narcocorridos ballads about the drug dealer world. The band that wrote it-Los Alegres del Barranco-recently came into conflict with the US and Mexican authorities when she performed the play in the Mexican city of Zapopan.

In this performance, the group sang about the actions of El Mencho, the leader of the Jalalco New Generation Kartell, in front of a cartoon -like portrait of him. This not only led to the failure of the band's tour plans in the United States, but also made them the subject of a criminal investigation in their homeland.

international tensions and reactions

as one of six Mexican drug cartels that the Trump administration has classified as foreign terrorist organizations, the Jalisco cartel is at the center of growing tensions between the USA and Mexico about cross-border crime. The authorities of both countries were particularly upset when a video of the concert went viral.

The event site, in which Los Alegres del Barranco appeared, apologized Schnell ; The public prosecutor Jalisco promised an investigation; and the Mexican President Claudia sheinbaum warned, the band warned Could have violated the law. Shortly afterwards the US State Department revealed its visas.

freedom of expression and self -censorship

"The last thing we need is a floor mat for people who glorify criminals and terrorists," said deputy US Foreign Minister Christopher Landau in a contribution to X. "In the Trump administration we take our responsibility very seriously with regard to the access of foreigners to our country." The band apologized next day on Facebook .

While songs about drug trafficking in Mexico have been censored for years, observers report that the increasing pressure of the Trump administration to act against cartels has led to a new wave of performance banks for Narcocorridos in several Mexican states. Even more worrying is the increasing tendency towards self-censorship among Mexican bands, which fear that violations of the US authorities could endanger their tour opportunities.

The development of the Narcocorrido

The measures against Los Alegranz Del Barranco are for the first time that the Foreign Ministry has punished a Mexican band in this way, so elijah forest , author of an English Guide to this genre. Some critics see the latest anti-Mexican step of the Trump administration, which has already burdened relationships with their immigration policy and customs policy.

"So far, these bands have been spared because nobody speaks Spanish," Wald said. "And when I say 'nobody', I mean the people who enforce this nonsense. The revocation of the Visa obviously has little to do with the songs. It's about a policy of the Visa Call."

popularity of the Narcocorridos

The complaint of the Foreign Ministry may have ruined the planned US tour of Los Alegres del Barranco, but it has hardly affected the popularity of the band or the genre. On the contrary, there was a thrust.

Statistics of Billboard show that the band then had over 2 million new listening runs on streaming services-proof of the ongoing modern attraction of a genre that has its origin in the folk music of the 19th century and often romanticizes outsiders and underdogs.

Earlier Corridos or ballads celebrated the deeds of "famous bandits, generals, sometimes horses and sometimes fighting taps", explained sam quinones Music and drug trafficking in Mexico and California reports.

an ambiguous heir

"It was almost like a musical newspaper," said Quinones. "It became a very common and established form of popular music." During the prohibition in the 1920s, a new subgenre - the Narcocorrido - told the stories of smugglers, which had been conveying illegal alcohol from Mexico to the United States, explains Author Wald.

A century later, this subgenre is still booming. The most popular musical artist among US Youtube users in 2023 was not Taylor Swift, but the Narcocorrido singer Peso Pluma.

The critical consideration of Narcocorridos

"He wasn't necessarily the first, but he was the key figure in this change, which significantly changed the business of the business," said Wald. "It meant that everyone was able to commission a praising corrido with money."

Since then, many singers and groups have been "sponsored by certain figures from the drug world or have occurred for them and are considered connected to certain cartels", says Wald, which leads to a situation that is "definitely dangerous for the artists". Chalino Sanchez was shot in 1992 after a concert in Sinaloa. His murder remains unsolved to this day.

the conflict of popularity

Some fans, like Quinones - who writes a biography of Sanchez - see this change critically. "The Corrido used to be a simple man who fights power, and knew that he was lost, that he would die and still fight."

"In my opinion he became corrupt when he became a praise for power, making the praise for these bloodthirsty men with enormous who killed arbitrarily."

Others, on the other hand, reject the view that Narcocorridos promote violence and crime they represent. They compare them with gangster rap, video games or films such as the godfather.

"People say: 'Oh, parents, don't let your children play call of duty, otherwise your child will protect!'" Said Ray Mancias, a 19-year-old guitarist who appeared after Order Activa at the concert in Atlanta. "This is also the way you see Narcocorridos. You think that if all these children listen further, you will be influenced and start doing it yourself. But ultimately how you grow up depends on your parents. No music will change."

an unexpected increase in interest

Noel Flores - one of Order Activas two singers - suggests that authorities who try to prohibit Narcocorridos only cut into their own meat. "It will only make people more to hear," said Flores.

political reactions and the desire for freedom

While some Mexican states have tried to ban the songs, and the US State Department, the Mexican President Sheinbaum chose a gentler approach-without pronouncing a nationwide ban and instead suggesting that the government music about peace and love as an alternative-a position that has led to some Häme.

"She tries to pursue the rather strange approach, sponsor nice music that will hear people instead what is charming," Wald said. "But no, that won't work."

Of course, not only will the bands lose if the authorities cannot find a way out of this debate, but also the fans in Mexico and the USA.

"With everything that is happening with (Trump), it feels for us as Mexicans to reject Corridos, as if we were even less," said Emmanuel Gonzalez, who visited the concert in Atlanta.

Other fans are even more loud about the idea of ​​rejecting the corRidos. As the singer Luis R. Conriquez , drug -related music at a concert in April to play in Texcoco, Mexico, and referred to a local ban, he told the booing audience: "There are no corridos tonight. Should we just go home?"

You answered that you Demolated later. Follow the new rules that the government has determined with regard to the Corridos.)

A few days after her concert in Atlanta posted Order Activa a Video Your performance: "Let's see if you don't take our visa away. not that this is a joke. ”

an unbroken spirit

Despite these fears, there are many who find consolation in the irony that the displacement of a music style that traditionally celebrates outlaw will probably only make it more popular. Like another member of the audience in Atlanta, Violet Uresti, put it: "I like the atmosphere. I like how people bring it together. If they prohibit it, we will still hear it."