Joe Rogan: NO PLAN for Mexican Cartels? 

Mexico would one of the best countries in the world to live in because of the natural beauty and beaches if it wasn’t for the drug cartels and political corruption :(

Mexican military as a fighting force is very capable. Urban combat trying to minimize collateral damage when the enemy just doesnt give a fuck is difficult. They also have to work against other corrupt institutions that may have authorities they dont have. There is already corruption in the Mexican military but it is not on the level that it is with public security services. Not that I completely blame them. Plata o plomo is a tough choice. It is hard to be righteous when your family are in the cross hairs.

If you are mexican or have lived in Mexico for a while you may have noticed that the army easily captures certain criminals pretty easily, in fact, capturing El Chapo's son in Culiacan was just impressive. And if you pay close attention you might have noticed that the army could just do that with every single narco in Mexico, even though some of their foot soldiers have military training and have advanced technology, when the army is involved they just don't have a chance. The reason why they don't do it is not because of repercussions, it's simply because the higher ups in the government, police, politicians and everyone that allows them to operate would just stop getting their cut, and it's a big fucking cut, like their money is so diversified in Mexico and the US that there's no way to trace it back to the cartels.

I live in Mexico, I am a journalist in the north of Mexico, and what this person paints about the country is only a small part of reality, in all my life I only once saw a group of armed men (criminals), this type of interviews, is the reason why so many prejudices are created about Mexico. I do not deny reality, there are certain dangerous places in the country, between 2007 and 2011 there were difficult times (due to the "drug war"), a large part of the problem is the amount of weapons sent from the north to these groups. Regardless of this, I like your podcast

Cartels before Calderon presidency where not too different from Japanese Yakuza and Italian mobsters, but in the last 3 decades they militarized and corporatized way beyond the grasp of traditional family centered crime organizations.

*It always baffles me how US always takes more initiative in conflicts halfway across the world (like Europe, Middle East, and Asia) than the one happening literally at our southern doorstep. People act like it doesn't affect us even though we see the changes happening in real time*

I love the fact that everyone seems to forget who sells these cartels their weapons when talking about their violence

Joe: So is US government doing something with this issue? Peter: who do you think sold those .50 cal to cartel ?

Josh Brolin (a commenter noticed I wrote James originally who is Josh's father) in the movie Sicario laid out the only plan to stop the cartels and that's for Americans to stop using drugs. Since our junkies won't quit, neither will the cartels.

The fact is Mr. Zeihan, Cartels wont be eliminated because they're great contributors to the American economy. Not just by being their major consumer but because a lot of global drug money ends up back in America to be laundered, spent and back into an American bank. The fact that cartel members aren't considered terrorist(because they qualify for it) tells you the American government doesn't truly want them eliminated. Governments will cause a little bit of ruckus here and there to make it seem like they care, but they don't.

Mexican here: the strategy is that AMLO is in kahoots with the Sinaloa Cartel.

6 years. This guy says a lot but nothing at the same time.

Once in a while, the CIA sends some of their stooges to JRE to confuse the public.

As a Mexican i can tell you that the Army and Navy are very capable of dismantling the cartels, the problem is that it would have to be a campaign where there is gonna be battles on cities and the mexican public dont want that, if the US DEA, FBI, and other organizations actually want to help and give us the intel that they have and shut down the cartels on US soil, it would be way easier,

This podcast should have been twice as long as it was

I live 20 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta, never seen a single issue. I'm from Detroit.

How about we talk about how much Americans love their drugs and can’t get enough of drugs, to the point where the Mexican cartels can barely keep up with the demand from their American customers

President of Mexico serves one 6 year term. You would figure an expert would remember that small detail.

"I'm here to get freaked out" - JR🤣👍

Irish here...Mexico is the most incredibly beautiful country in the world and the Mexican people are the friendliest. Shame about the cartels!

I live in Mexico, this guy speaks very confidently even when he's wrong ...

“Hugs not bullets” is the literal translation of “abrazos no balazos”, AMLO’s strategy.

I love how Americans always underestimate other governments and never believe how evil the American government is it's time to realize how bad things are in both sides of the border, we always talk about the Mexican cartels but what's going on inside the USA

There is a book, "Hijo de la Guerra" which says how zeta cartel founders where trained in Fort Hood Texas in interrogation techniques for war as slaughtering a hog removing pieces of their body but keeping him alive for 40 hr

Peter Zeihan has mastered and commodified talking confidently on topics of International Relations he has only a cursory understanding of.

I hope I live to see a safe and stable Mexico.

Like my dad says. Americans love drugs. If Americans want coffee, the cartels will smuggle coffee.

It wasn’t “hugs not drugs” it was translated to “hugs not BULLETS” Also 6 year term limits in Mexico

one thing which i think makes the whole security policy even more laughable, is that the actual name was "Abrazos, no balazos " that translates to hugs, not bullets...

Joe Rogan should research "Fast and Furious scandal" so he can find out how the cartels got so much power.

every five seconds, Joe going "Huuh WHEEEW"

Mexican policy for cartels was to focus on economic and recruitment factors... Because everything else before hadn't worked.

The Cartels operate without much opposition, the last thing they want is to cross the border and have to deal with the US DOJ, which has no rival on Earth. That's why it has remained largely south of the border.

Note: None of Joe Rogan’s guest who speak about Cartels and Mexican government actually know what’s going on in reality

Overstatement indeed

Who's Laundering/Banking the Cartel Money? The mechanisms and structures must be embedded within state by now as the industry is mature...?

How is he an expert? Mexican precidency is 6 years!

He has little to no knowledge of what is actually going on. He just speaks so soft and calm that he sound intelligent.

I love Joe 😂😂😂 “so the whole world is fucked” ☠️

I absolutely love that he outs himself as an OG tabletop gamer with the Twilight 2000 reference at 1:27. :)

Joe Rogan: Jesus now I have to get my coke elsewhere

This guy is one of the greatest bullshitters I’ve ever seen. His confidence is fascinating!

This guy is way out of his league, he just sounds confident

What!! Zeihan on Rogan? This is a dream come true.

It’s not “Hugs not Drugs” lol Mexican president said “HUGS NOT BULLETS”

2:10 one of the truest statements ever.

Los chapitos used to be a faction of Mayos Sinaloa cartel but when Mayo refused to help Ovidio the first time he got arrested there began to be tension between the two groups

Lmao I'm laughing because the "worst case scenario" is already DEFINITELY, UNQUESTIONABLY already happening

I love that he mentioned Twilight 2000.

its "abrazos no balazos" wich traslates "hugs not shots" usless anyways

I'm in Mexico for vacation and as we were traveling around we've seen military convoys pass by multiple times. 2 towns we visited had checkpoints just outside the towns. They were heavily armed, mounted machine guns on trucks and assault rifles. Even the regular municipal police are armed with assault rifles roaming around our home town. They definitely seem more active now, compared to vacations I've had in the past here. It probably has to with what's happened in Sinaloa and Juarez, which is very far from where I am. So far though everything has been fine where I'm staying and every place I've traveled to is peaceful and I've had a great time.

This guy's has no idea what he is talking about, I know it sounds funny but abrazos no balazos is about stoping the supply of new recruits for the cartels by investing in the well-being of the people and giving them opportunities. It might not have an immediate impact but in the long run it would have a much bigger impact. He also stated that this president is a really bad president but he is considered by many one of if not the best president that mexico has ever had, just look at all the new public projects that are getting done, without raising taxes or put the country into debt. Look at how well they have managed the value of the peso compared to the dollar. Amlo (president of mexico) has one of the highest approval rating in the world, for a reason, they're people who want him to run again for president even though in the mexican constitution you could only serve 1 term of 6 years (not 5 years like he stated in the video).

I noticed that. It was pretty substantial

The cartels aren’t ever going away. The neighbor to the north of them is the largest consumer of their products, supply and demand. This is like the war on drugs in the 80s 🤣

The more i listen to, who ever Joe is interviewing, the more I realize that the dude is just saying things out of his head without actually knowing.

its 'hugs not gun fire', not 'hugs not drugs'

Dude referenced an obscure tabletop role playing game to explain the situation in Mexico. Twilight 2000! Anyone else remember?

"Hugs not bullets"

gezz I wonder why is no one talking about the daily random shootings in the US 🙄

Glad to see Rogan take Zeihan *deep* He usually only gets asked to surface questions. I'm quite impressed how deep he can go too.

This guy is the ultimate step dad telling you how things are

AS MEXICANO THIS MAN HAS NO IDEA WHAT ALMO IS ABOUT, OR WHAT IS GOING ON IN MEXICO.

2:15? What 😂

The way this guy describes the hug thing is absolutely ignorant, nothing to do with what he said, the Guardia Nacional and how it is being assembled and how it is being implemented is also ignored here, as well as the BIG changes in results. Mexico City is safer than NY, believe it or not, the cartel problems are in very spotted places. The narrative of this guy in a few words obeys the OLD Mexican cartel story sold by all the mainstream news for yeaaaars, NBC, Washington post, even DW or el Pais. I love Joe's podcast, but this guy's opinion is not so wise and reaches disinformation.

Brings me back to Joe's old bit about aliens flying around being shocked that mexico has an airforce.

The saying isn't "Hugs not drugs", it's "abrazaos no balazos" which translates to "hugs not gunshots".

He forgot to talk about the number of weapons that The States trade to the cartels here in Mexico

It's never going to get solved with force as long as you have a high paying drug trade in a poor country.

It's hard to fight the Cartels when they are funded/trained by the CIA.

Es "abrazos no balazos" it's "hugs not gunshots"

I love how this guy said with a straight face Mexican Presidents serve five years- wrong. It’s six years friend!

We can't even root out the corruption in our own police departments or handle our own gangs or get rid of the mafia... But we definitely should have a plan for cartels. 👀

This man is very certain of things which are only surface-level true at best and deeply ignorant. God bless him :) Abrazos no balazos means Hugs no gunshots, but that wasn't the strategy AMLO has followed, that was just a tagline to take away the idea that we have to wage a war which has only exacerbated Mexico's problems with mortality amongst civilians and escalation of conflict with armed thugs. Meanwhile, the strategy all along has been on one side the betterment of conditions for those people that would otherwise be recruited by the cartels and on the other side the creation of an armed forces corps called Guardia Nacional with military values, meant to be much harder to corrupt or handle by the cartels, with a large number of members and presence throughout the country, patrolling and hitting the income of the cartels tactically so that there are less direct encounters in the open where civilians are caught in the crossfire and seldom the use of extreme force against the criminals hence also being a de-scalation of deaths in both sides of the law. After much effort things are bearing fruit and, though the mortality rates had a steep growth impulse when he came in, the growth rate was immediately stopped when he came in, meaning deaths were already at an all-time high and remained around there for a time, but started to decrease which hadn't really happened over the previous 18 years; crime rates overall went down also immediately when he took over, big crime (avoidance of taxes and corruption in the high spheres with the most impact on public finances) and small crime also went down, but death rate is the statistic that was the most difficult to bring down yet it is happening despite the regular high-visibility crimes that keep happening but are met head-on by the new armed forces corps.

There’s was a mistake at the very beginning it wasn’t “hugs not drugs” it was abrazos no balazos which translates to “hugs not bullets”.

That's not at all what the "abrazos no balazos" idea was. . .

Growing up in San Diego, I’ve heard & seen first hand many times Mexican guys and girls show off how they’re related to a cartel member. These are people in their teens and all the way up into their 40s. Way too many Mexicans support the cartels, there are even bandas writing lyrics which talk about the cartels in a positive light or at least in a way that isn’t negative.

Mexico also tried the military approach after the Fox administration, and it increased cartel violence exponentially into what it’s been for the last 10 years

The policy was "Hugs not gun shots" And AMLO is focusing a lot on corrupt politics.

To root out corruption on the scale of Mexico, you'll need the entire nation's help. Each citizen plays a part and if they simply back down then all is lost anyway

Fighting drugs and anything related is like fighting our own shadow on the floor… we know who’s the one getting hurt

big fan of Peter zeihan and Joe.this is the ultimate drinking game. One shot every time Joe says Jesus Christ.

The slogan was "Hugs not bullets". Just a correction.

Trump offered help to Mexico with the cartel problem...Amlo said no, I love how he left that out

The problem … well “a problem” … with the upper echelons of the Democratic Party is their “soft bigotry of lowered expectations” when it comes to anyone who isn’t an old white dude. With the Biden administration, in regards to Mexico, this manifests itself as an “Oh, let us help you run your little country” attitude. For that matter, that describes most of the Obama/Biden foreign policies.

In the near future I fear the government will use stopping the cartels as one of their main arguments for the discontinuation of physical currency and the creation of a centralized digital currency. I feel like the writing is on the wall in that regard.

Joe needs Ed Calderon here to explain things, not this guy... he got the whole hugs not drugs wrong for starters. It's "Hugs not shootings" Also, if you think the cartels are not in the US already... you live in dreamland.

This video starts with a wrong translation of "abrazos, no balazos" which means "hugs, not shots"...and also the meaning of that is not leaving the cartels alone, it was to keep the young people out of trouble by providing jobs and scholarships. I watch a couple of clips of this guy talking about cartels in Mexico and I thought he was interesting (specially when he said it will be so much better if Americans don't like cocaine so much lol), but if he is talking out of headliners and not by investigating the subject, then it means that probably everything else is BS. Sometimes I don't agree with Ed Calderon, but for sure he has more knowledge about this and is a better source of information for this subject.

I love seeing Joe agree and be mesmerized by incorrect facts….they he will post on IG about it later…great journalism and hard hitting questions Joe.

I never trust a Know It All. This guy knows everything about anything

Ferris buellers dad turned into the most interesting economic dad in the world

This guy is just asking for a knock on his door. It could be your local landscaper. Watch out lol😂

And what about the plan about stop addiction on the United States?

The “Holy Duo” in my opinion! I have been anticipating this interview for a few years. Read all of Peter’s books and listen to Joe daily and they both chop it up in a way that helps you understand.

This guy knows everything about everything…..

It's a problem that needs to be handled but it's will more than likely end in essentially a warzone in some cities. The sverage cartel soilder will need to be given an out to essentially caues a reshuffling of each cartels ranks then lock down surveillance on the most active members and begin a swift but methodical take down of as many of the fronts/ production / equipment of every known cartel possibly even a form of restricted imports/exports within most affected areas The force to carry this out would need to be voted beyond a shadow of a doubt. Prioritize places of great investment or end deal businesses

I’m so happy Ziehan got on the JRE. This was so cool to see. I just wish it was longer.

One thing I will say about amlo that many Americans might not kno, and me as a Mexican. Is that he is the best president in centuries, he’s fought corruption and installed policies to combat it. And has done a better job in helping the ppl than other corrupt presidents in mexicos history

How to get a interview with Joe Rogan

A more correct and accurate translation is; “Hug it out, don’t shoot it out,” instead of hugs not drugs!! Hugs not drugs is inaccurate!

I like how they never talk about the US funding these cartels and providing them with guns. Or how the US has a drug problem. It always the countries issue but whats never an issue is the US involvement. US CAN NEVER DO NO WRONG. definitely no corruption in the US.