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A review by jdscott50
Midnight in Mexico: A Reporter's Journey Through a Country's Descent into Darkness by Alfredo Corchado
4.0
Alfredo Corchad’s story is a personal one. As he documents Mexico as a reporter for the Dallas Morning News, he is also Mexican with American roots. He has hope for a Mexico that can rise above the violence and destruction from the drug cartels. It is only until he becomes part of that story does his perspective change and generate this book. After reporting on a peace pact between the cartels and the government, Corchad receives a death threat by one of the Mexican Cartels and forced to leave the country. His story is intended to document both the belief of Mexicans for a better future and how that hope is crushed by corrupt governments and drug cartels.
The best part of Corchad’s story is the perspective from Mexico. In the United States, we hear about the violence fleetingly on the news. It’s a far different experience living in Mexico where not only is your own life under threat, but those of your loved ones. If you open a business, you have to pay protection money. The money and power held by these cartels makes it where there is violence just for sport. As evidenced by the killing of women near the El Paso border. There is definitely a marriage here between Corhcad’s reporting and Roberto Bolano’s 2666.
When the Mexican government finally does wage war on the cartels, the bloodbath only gets worse. On top of that, the bad economy creates a new generation of young men who can’t find work and can’t afford to go to school. They are a ripe target for new recruits who can make a lot of money with the cartels. The violent end of those stories is documented only too well in this book. Corchad has to navigate contacts both to get the story and save his own skin. Corchad also provides a thorough backstory on the cartels from how they are formed to who the leaders are now. It’s this dedication to get so deep as to be part of the story that really makes the book so engaging. It’s also his hope that perseveres despite the violence.
Favorite parts:
"In Mexico, they kill you twice: first with a bullet, an ax to your head, or a bath full of acid. Then they spread rumors about you. P. 19
Mexico's "democracy" belongs to the politicians, intellectuals, idealists, to the elite and the opportunists, but their vision for Mexico does not always involve consulting the majority of people who live day to day. There is no local ownership. For Mexicans, the higher one's income, the more deeply a person believes in democracy, at least on paper. Mexicans like the taco woman base their lives on Mexico's giant informal market, obeying only the laws that are convenient to obey and taking life as it comes, because mañana, quien sabe—tomorrow, who knows? P. 76
"In the United States people die either from a disease--a heart attack, cancer...or a car accident. Here you die one minute to the next, and knowing that makes you want to live life fuller...You're reminded daily of your mortality... p. 254
"What is my search for home if not a futile desire for resurrection, a renewal of a wounded spirit, a sentimental attempt to give meaning to not one but two lives, reconciliation with the past? p. 261
The best part of Corchad’s story is the perspective from Mexico. In the United States, we hear about the violence fleetingly on the news. It’s a far different experience living in Mexico where not only is your own life under threat, but those of your loved ones. If you open a business, you have to pay protection money. The money and power held by these cartels makes it where there is violence just for sport. As evidenced by the killing of women near the El Paso border. There is definitely a marriage here between Corhcad’s reporting and Roberto Bolano’s 2666.
When the Mexican government finally does wage war on the cartels, the bloodbath only gets worse. On top of that, the bad economy creates a new generation of young men who can’t find work and can’t afford to go to school. They are a ripe target for new recruits who can make a lot of money with the cartels. The violent end of those stories is documented only too well in this book. Corchad has to navigate contacts both to get the story and save his own skin. Corchad also provides a thorough backstory on the cartels from how they are formed to who the leaders are now. It’s this dedication to get so deep as to be part of the story that really makes the book so engaging. It’s also his hope that perseveres despite the violence.
Favorite parts:
"In Mexico, they kill you twice: first with a bullet, an ax to your head, or a bath full of acid. Then they spread rumors about you. P. 19
Mexico's "democracy" belongs to the politicians, intellectuals, idealists, to the elite and the opportunists, but their vision for Mexico does not always involve consulting the majority of people who live day to day. There is no local ownership. For Mexicans, the higher one's income, the more deeply a person believes in democracy, at least on paper. Mexicans like the taco woman base their lives on Mexico's giant informal market, obeying only the laws that are convenient to obey and taking life as it comes, because mañana, quien sabe—tomorrow, who knows? P. 76
"In the United States people die either from a disease--a heart attack, cancer...or a car accident. Here you die one minute to the next, and knowing that makes you want to live life fuller...You're reminded daily of your mortality... p. 254
"What is my search for home if not a futile desire for resurrection, a renewal of a wounded spirit, a sentimental attempt to give meaning to not one but two lives, reconciliation with the past? p. 261