Danny Rosas-Salas

English 1010

Doctor Haslam

January 6, 2022

Civic Engagement Project Annotated Bibliography

Revised Draft:

Introduction: How has the impact of the Mexican Drug Cartel affected the people in Mexico and

in the United States, and what are the possible solutions to decrease the problems caused by this

issue? Where the Mexican Drug Cartel are organized crime groups in Mexico that are involved

in producing and trafficking illegal drugs in the United States. Where they have caused several

issues for both countries including higher drug addiction and consumption for the people in the

United States, corruption within the Mexican government system, and an increasing number of

homicides and other issues in the United States and Mexico.

Topic/Thesis

Source #1:

Guilherme Borges, et al. “Drug Use on Both Sides of the US-Mexico Border.” Salud Pública de

México, vol. 60, no. 4, jul–ago, June 2018, pp. 451–461. EBSCOhost, doi:10.21149/8603.

Borges, Guilherme, et al. “Drug Use on Both Sides of the US-Mexico Border.” Salud Pública de

México, vol. 60, no. 4, July 2018, pp. 451–461. EBSCOhost, doi:10.21149/8603.

“Drug Use on Both Sides of the US-Mexico Border,” is an article written by Guilherme

Borges and other scholars that was published in the Salud Pública de México on July 4, 2018.

Borges expresses that the article's main goal is to compare the drug use for border and non

border cities in the U.S. and Mexico and compare both countries' cities. In order to compare the
drug use Borges claims that they used data from the US-Mexico Study on Alcohol and Related

Conditions, for this study conducted a survey of 4,796 randomly selected people from Mexican

descent between 2011 to 2016 in six cities on both sides of the border. According to Borges they

found that drug use disorders were only found in the border cities Laredo (United States) and

Nuevo Lardeo and Reynosa/Matamoros compared to their non-border counterparts. Borges also

discusses that the U.S. border and non-border cities had higher rates of drug use disorder than the

cities in Mexico. Lastly, Borges explains that the three research sites in the U.S. had higher

prescription drug use, and the three sites in Mexico had higher rates of drug use for all kinds of

drugs. Where Borges discovers that not only does border cities have higher rates of drug use, but

the whole northern region of Mexico by stating, “Our findings that the border cities that we

surveyed in Mexico were at high risk for drug use and symptoms of DUD as compared to

elsewhere in the country are in line with those of other studies,” (Borges 459). “...since the

non-boarder city of Monterrey also showed some higher rates, so the finding seems applicable to

the northern region of Mexico rather than only the border cities,” (Borges 459). In conclusion,

the article that I read helped me see the impacts that the Mexican Cartel has in both the U.S. and

Mexico, for they increase the amount of drug use and consumption in the northern regions of

Mexico and the southern border regions of the United States.

The point of view that the article is conducting is through the analysis and the

observation of the authors collecting data, and comparing the drug use of border and non-border

cities between the United States and Mexico. The source fits into the debate because it discusses

the results that they found in their research. They have found that the border cities that they

researched in both the United States and Mexico have a higher amount of drug use than the

non-border cities that they researched on, the United States border and non-border cities have a
higher drug use compared to Mexico, the US has a higher prescription drug use, and Mexico has

a higher drug use in the northern region of the country. What is important to consider from this

article is the ethos and logos because the article provides a lot of credible information from the

sources that they use and analyze. The article expresses the information that they use towards

their audience of people that are interested to see the drug use of border and non-border cities in

the U.S. and Mexico. The article is credible because the authors are able to explain in detail

about the information that they analyzed and collected. Then the authors were able to cite other

information that they used in their article by providing a references page in their article. The

article was published three years ago, and from reading the article I did not see any biases. I

wasn’t able to find information about the publishers nor the author, but at the beginning of the

article there were multiple names listed with degrees.

Source #2:

“Mexico's Long War: Drugs, Crime, and the Cartels.” Council on Foreign Relations, Council on

Foreign Relations, https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/mexicos-long-war-drugs-crime-and-cartels.

“Mexico's Long War: Drugs, Crime, and the Cartels.” Council on Foreign Relations, Council on

Foreign Relations, https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/mexicos-long-war-drugs-crime-and-cartels.

“Mexico’s Long War: Drugs, Crime, and the Cartels,” is an article that was published on

the website Council on Foreign Relations. The website expresses that the Mexican drug cartel is

a major influence of distributing and importing many illegal drugs, for they are the leading

suppliers of many illegal drugs that include cocaine, heroin, meth, and other drugs into the

United States. What the website also mentions is that there have been more than 300,000

homicides and 66,000 people that have disappeared since 2006 when the Mexican government

declared war on the cartels. The Council on Foreign Relations have stated that over the years a
variety of cartels have grown, seperated, made new alliances, and had conflicts with each other

for territory control. The website lists and talks about the Sinaloa Cartel, Jalisco New Generation

Cartel, Juarez Cartel, Gulf Cartel, Los Zetas, and Beltran-Leyva Organization, for it also

mentions that the Drug Enforcement Administration have these groups are the most significant

cartels that impose a threat to the United States. According to the Council on Foreign Relations

they have expressed how the cartels use some of their profit to corrupt judges, police officers,

and politicians, and even sometimes they incorporate officials in assassinating public servants.

The website also mentions that the United States has made little progress on trying to reduce the

demand of illegal drugs where they state, “ In 2016, Americans spent almost $150 billion on

cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine, 50 percent more than in 2010,” (Mexico’s

Long War: Drugs, Crime, and the Cartels). The Council on Foreign Relations mentions how

various drugs are smuggled into the United States, and how they use data from the U.S. Customs

and Border Protection to express what illicit drugs are found at official ports of entry and the

pounds of drugs that are seized at the ports. The website also expresses the history and the

limited success that Mexico has had against the drug cartel, for Mexico’s former and current

Presidents have deployed armed forces that have caused more violence and little change. Lastly,

the website discuss how the United States has assisted Mexico to go against the cartels, for they

mention how the U.S. has sent billions of dollars to Mexico, Bush providing counternarcotics

and counterterrorism support, Obama aiding Mexico with creating reforms in the justice system

and creating programs in communities trying to prevent crime, and Trump deploying thousands

of military troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to go against drug production and money

laundering.
 The Council of Foreign Relations expresses the article through the viewpoint of the

information and data that have been gathered that are about the Mexican Drug Cartel. This article

fits into the debate of the Mexican Drug Cartel because it expresses various details and statistics

about how the cartel has been involved in the many issues and problems that they have produced

and caused. The important aspects to consider in this article are ethos and logos. In this article it

demonstrates and explains the cartel's background, impact, and influence throughout Mexico and

the U.S. by using a variety of info and data. Which showcases how logos is one of the main

aspects in the article, for it is used throughout the writing of the article where it informs the

audience about these organized crime groups. At the same time the article provides the sources

from where they got their information from by highlighting it in orange, yet this aspect is

important because it is using ethos. Where the article is demonstrating their credibility to the

reader by providing the citations of the information that they are using. The audience for this

article could be anyone that is interested in wanting to learn more about the Mexican cartel. In

conclusion, the source is credible to the audience because of the reliable information that it

provides about the cartels. The only concern is that there is no specific author mentioned, but the

website says the editors of the website wrote the article. There is no bias from what I have read,

for they express this issue using a lot of factual information, statistics, and other sources where

they are cited throughout the article. In the beginning it says that it was updated on February 26,

2021 at 8:00 A.M. (EST) which indicates that the article is current with their information.

Source #3:

Dulin, Adam. “Mexican Cartel Negotiative Interactions with the State.” Trends in Organized

Crime, vol. 22, no. 2, June 2019, pp. 210–230. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s12117-017-9327-2.
 Adam Dullin wrote an article called “Mexican cartel negotiative interactions with the

state,” published in Trends in Organized Crime on December 9, 2017. Dullin discusses how the

Mexican Drug Cartel uses non-violent alternatives to favor their power and influence over

Mexico. Where Dullin expresses one of the alternatives by explaining how the drug trafficking

organizations have corrupted a variety of government officials by paying which he says,

“Staggering sums of money are paid to those who choose to look the other way, and over the

years a long list of powerful officials have worked on both sides of the law. From defense

secretaries to army generals and all manner of state and municipal officials, Mexican DTOs’

ability to use “soft tactics” has been amply demonstrated,” (Dullin 211). Throughout the article

Dullin analyzes various literature and studies related to the cartel to understand their negotiative

interactions within the states of Mexico. Dullin expresses that in this article they will use

qualitative comparative analysis by examining databases of narco-messages through 2010 to

2012, so that they can identify the communication activity from different cartel groups. In the

research that was conducted, Dullin expresses that the conflict over territory causes a lot of the

violence that occurs in Mexico, for it also increases the amount of negotiation and interaction

between the cartels and the government. Dullin later explains that cartels would achieve their

vertical status, or increase their economic status, in important locations like the coast, border, or

capital area of Mexico. Near the end of the article Dullin mentions a variety of events that

increase and decrease the individual status of each cartel group, yet he expresses that cartels with

ambitions of territorial control and increase in their status and strength there will be more

non-violent interactions and negotiations between the government and other cartels.

The article represents an informative viewpoint because the author conducted an analysis

on the communication of the cartel to explain and describe the non-violent interactions that
cartels make with each other and with the government. With the heavy examination that this

article conducts it fits into the debate because it describes the effect that the cartel has on

Mexico. The article describes that the cartels use non-violent strategies like negotiating and

interacting with other groups and corrupting the government to try to increase their overall status

and strength. The most important aspects that the article uses are logos and ethos. The article

uses logos by explaining a variety of information and analysis about the non-violent interactions,

communications, and negotiations that the cartels make with other drug trafficking groups and

with the government. Ethos is used when the article demonstrates the data that it used for their

analysis, yet they also cite the information and other literature that they use throughout the

article. The main audience for this article is for people seeking in depth information about the

actions that the cartel conducts to benefit their group. Overall, this article is credible towards

their audience because the author is able to explain in detail about the research that it conducted.

Where the author analyzed the communication of the cartels to determine their negotiations and

interactions with the government and other cartel groups was towards their interest of territorial

control and growth in status. The article was able to provide credit to the resources that were

used in the research and writing by providing a reference page in the last part of the article, and

having the statements of other information be cited with the name of their authors. Then the

article is current or recent with being published online 4 years ago with no biases.

Source #4:

Light, Michael T., et al. “Undocumented Immigration, Drug Problems, and Driving Under the

Influence in the United States, 1990-2014.” American Journal of Public Health, vol. 107, no. 9,

Sept. 2017, pp. 1448–1454. EBSCOhost, doi:10.2105/AJPH.2017.303884.

 “Undocumented Immigration, Drug Problems, and Driving Under the Influence in the

United States, 1990-2014,” was an article written by Michael T. Light, Ty Miller, and Brian C.

Kelly, for it was published in the American Journal of Public Health on September 1, 2017. The

authors express that there has been an increase in the amount of drug overdose fatatlies and

alcohol crashes in the United States, yet they also express there has also been an increase in the

number of undocumented immigrants that are in the United States. The authors explain that in

order to see if there is any correlations with the amount of undocumented immigrants and the

increasing number of drug and alcohol use problems they created two hypothesis. Where the

authors explain the first hypothesis by saying that undocumented immgrants increase the amount

of drug problems and DUI’s because of their high stress and low mental health from the fear of

being explotitated and deportated, but also taking in consideration of the poverty and low

engagement in education that they face. The authors suggest the second hypothesis by saying

that undocumented immigrants reduce the number of DUI’s and drug problems in the United

States, for they are motivated by economic opportunities that will lead them to life without

criminal involvement and to have better social behaviors. The authors explain that they

conducted a research and analysis to test these two hypotheses by collecting a variety of data.

Where the authors state that they collected data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation

Uniform Crime Report for DUI and drug arrest, they collected data from the National Highway

Traffic Safety Administration's Fatality Analysis Reporting System for alcohol-related car

crashes, they collected data Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Underlying Cause of

Death for drug overdose, and they collected data from the Center for Migration Studies and the

Pew Reasearch Center for information on undocumented immgrants. The authors also mention

that they collected data of socioeconomic, demographic, and criminal justice characters from
trusted sources like the US Census, the National Prisoner Statistics, and the Federal Bureau of

Investigation Police Employment data.US Census, the National Prisoner Statistics, and the

Federal Bureau of Investigation Police Employment data. With analyzing and examining

multiple resources and data the authors express the results that they found by saying, “Taken

together, the findings offer no evidence that unauthorized immigration increases the rate of DUI

or drug problems. Rather, the pattern in the data suggests that undocumented immigration

reduced the prevalence of DUI and drug problems over the past 25 years or had no effect,”

(Light, Miller, Kelly 1451). After seeing these results the authors conducted further

investigation, but later the authors claimed that the second hypothesis was correct in the aspect

that undocumented immigrants decrease or do not affect the prevalance of DUI and drug

problems in the United States. At the end the authors express that there should be public

resources that can be effective at preventing and intervening the alcohol and drug problems that

the U.S. faces.

The article has a viewpoint that is through analyzing and researching information to find

out if undocumanted immigrants have an influence on the prevalence of DUI’s and drug

problems in the United States. Where this source fits into the debate of the project's issue

because it relates to the drug use that is occuring in the United States, for the Mexican cartel has

an influence on supplying and trafficking illegal drugs. Some people argue that undocumneted

immigrants increase the drug and alcohol problems that are occuring in the United States, but

from the research and analysis that was conducted the article helps contradict that argument. The

main rhetorical aspects to consider for this article are logos and ethos. Where the authors use

logos to express and showcase the information and results that they have found during their

research. Ethos is the other important rhetorical analysis to consider because the author’s
research depends on the credibility of the data and statistics that are being collected, so that they

can prove the accuracy and reliability of the information that they provide through the study that

they have conducted. The audience for this article could be towards people that are researching

or interested to see if undocumented immigrants are involved or influnce any situations or issues

that occur in the United States. The source is credible towards their audience because of the large

amount of research that was conducted by the authors, and they were able to explain and

describe in full depth their research and information that they provide. Also the authors were able

to cite and give credit to the resources and data that they used for their study. Also what gives

this article credibility is the publisher being The American Journal of Public Health Association.

Where they publish peer reviewed public health journals in the American Journal of Public

Health to “advance public health research, policy, practice, and education.” This article

demonstrates that there were no biases because they were able to create two different hypotheses

in their research to describe how undocumented immgrants affect drug problems and driving

under the influnce in the United States.

Source #5:

DeMatthews, David. “School Leadership, Social Capital, and Community Engagement: A Case

Study of an Elementary School in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.” School Community Journal, vol. 28,

no. 1, Jan. 2018, pp. 167–194. EBSCOhost,

search-ebscohost-com.libprox1.slcc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1184928&site

=eds-live&scope=site.

David DeMatthews wrote an article called “School Leadership, Social Capital, and

Community Engagement: A Case Study of an Elementary School in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico,”

published in the School Community Journal on March 1, 2018. DeMatthews stated that he
conducted a qualitative case study for one school year on a small elementary school that is

located in Ciudad Juarez named Colegio Zapata. According to DeMatthews he says that Ciudad

Juarez, Mexico has been named as one of the most violent cities in the world, for he expresses

that the city is faced with a lot of domestic and gang/cartel violence, poverty, adult illiteracy, lack

of access to quality public schools, government malaise, and a lack of unity within the

communities. DeMatthews says Colegio Zapata was founded by Seńora Marie, who is the leader

of the school, and her husband Louis, and that it is a private, nondenominational Christian

elementary school that has an open enrollment policy. DeMatthews mentions that Seńora Marie

and the community have created the schools mission to focus on bringing hope to the people of

Ciudad Juarez by providing the students of the school academic opportunities, teach students and

parents general life skills, and create a great foundation of ownership and involvement within the

community. During this study DeMatthews mentions that he conducted 18 interviews with

Seńora Marie over one academic school year. Where DeMatthews says that they asked her about

the challenges that the school, students, families, and the community faces, how those challenges

evolved, and the specific actions that she took to support the school and the community.

DeMatthews mentions that he also interviewed five teachers, eight parents, two local government

officials, a community activist, and a local reporter. DeMatthews expresses that he conducted six

to seven hours of school and classroom observations, for he mentioned that the observation sites

that he had were at the classrooms, cafeteria and kitchen, afterschool programs, assemblies,

meetings that were conducted by Seńora Marie to meet with parents and teachers, and other

activities that Seńora Marie engaged in. DeMatthews stated that Seńora Marie would help the

community on building the bonding social capital with using parent volunteers, for she also used

the school to empower families and students with teachers having lessons about recycling,
community and civic engagement, community solidarity, addressing gender roles, and about

having hope and goals. Then DeMatthews expresses how the school provides after school

programs for adults by saying, “Seńora Marie, her husband Louis, and teachers willing to

volunteer provided courses to parents after school. The PROFECO and U.S. Consulate

partnerships also brought adult education courses. Classes included home economics, reading,

mathematics, English, administrative skills, family counseling, parenting, healthy eating and

cooking, job and interview skills, Bible study, and others,” (DeMatthews 184). DeMatthews

claims this helped parents at applying in jobs, having better eating habits and diets, or even

becoming a role model for their kids. DeMatthews says that the most significant service project

that the school conducted was to raise enough money for medication and family needs for a

former student that was diagnosed with brian cancer. DeMattews expresses that this helped unite

the community with having students collect as much money as they can, parents in the school's

kitchen to cook and sell empanadas and other baked goods, residents without children at the

school would be involved, fathers were coming to the school, and even members from a local

church in El Paso, Texas got involved. DeMatthews mentions that the child survived longer than

what doctors expected and she was able to return to school.

This article's point of view is through the authors study and analysis over the school’s

leadership and engagement with the community. Where the author conducted observations over

the school's environment and activities, and also conducted a series of interviews with the leader

of the school and with the people that are involved with the school. This source fits into the

debate because it goes over the impacts that the cartel has on small towns in Mexico, but it also

goes over how educational systems like Colegio Zapata overcome these challenges and use

education as a source to unite the children, their families, and the community that they are in.
The rhetorical aspects that are needed to be taken into consideration are ethos and pathos. Where

the articles uses the credibility of the author, for he is the one that conducted the analysis and

observed the school by witnessing it for a school year and being there physically. The article uses

pathos with adding what was said in the interviews that were conducted, for that showcased the

emotions and thoughts that people had at the moment. Also the articles described in detail about

the determination and devotion that Seńoria Marie had towards the school and the community.

The audience of this article is towards educators or people that work in the education field

because the study was conducted to analyze the leadership of a community based school, and

how those practices help build the engagement of family and students in the community. This

source is credible to its audience because the author writes in great detail about the background

of the city, the school, and Señora Marie who founded the school, yet it describes a lot of

information of the analysis on the schools impact and involvement with the students, parents, and

the community. The author is really credible because he is an educator, and he was present for a

school year at Colegio Zapata’s while he was conducting his research. Which gives him the

authority to express information about the importance and impact that education has on people.

Source #6:

Gómez San Luis, Anel Hortensia, and Ariagor Manuel Almanza Avendaño. “Barriers to

Addiction Prevention and Treatment in Communities with Organized Crime: The Perspective of

Health Providers.” Salud Mental, vol. 41, no. 2, Mar. 2018, pp. 73–80. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.17711/SM.0185-3325.2018.010.

“Barriers to addiction prevention and treatment in communities with organized crime: the

perspective of health providers,” an article written by two psychologists Anel Hortensia Gómez

San Luis and Ariagor Manuel Almanza Avendaño, for it was published in Salud Mental on
March 1, 2018. Gomez and Almaza express that they have conducted a study to examine through

the perspective of health staff on how the presence of organized crime are barriers for addiction

prevention and treatment. Where Gomez and Almaza claim that in their study they interviewed 8

women psychologists who have had experience with providing outside prevention and outpatient

treatment for substance abuse, for the research was done in a state of Tamaulipas at a primary

addiction center. According to Gomez and Almaza they say that in their study they found that

organized crime has an influence in the community, for there are teenagers that consume or join

in these groups. Where Gomez and Almaza quoted on what one of the participants said in their

experience with this by saying, “I started giving talks and it was very common in middle school

for students to show me the drug wrapped in sheets of paper…I have heard from the middle

schools where I went to work, that the dealers are the ones who give them to them…they have

already identified the schools and they go and sell drugs there. (Participant 3),” (Gomez and

Almaza 76). Gomez and Almaza explain that the reason this occurs is because of the financial

problems, dysfunctional family structures, lack of parental supervision, and other factors that

contribute to the drug use and entering in organized crime for teenagers. Gomez and Almaza

mention that the barriers that the psychologists had in addiction prevention is the organization of

crime groups controlling communities that have education members afraid to address drug

prevention, restrict health providers for the implementation of drug prevention, and the fear of

health providers going to surroundings or education facilities with the presence of gang members

where they could be threaten. Gomez and Almaza also mention that psychologists have

insecurities with providing care because of the violent events that take place near the facilities,

and affect the treatment of providing care to patients engaged in criminal activities. Lastly,

Gomez and Almaza express that psychologists and other health care providers have to adapt to
protection strategies when they provide their treatments, for they ignore comments that are about

organized crime groups from patients that are members, schedule certain appointments for

members of organized crime, and try to go unnoticed.

The viewpoints that this article has is through the analysis of the literature that was about

organized crime and drug consumption, and also the viewpoint of the study on the interviews

that were trying to find out how the presence of organized crime hinders the practice of addiction

prevention and treatment in communities. This source fits into the debate because it talks about

one of the impacts that organized crime groups, especially drug trafficking groups, have in

communities. Where the argument is that their presence and control in territories become barriers

for health providers to provide addiction prevention and treatment towards communities. Where

the rhetorical aspects to consider in this article is ethos and pathos. Where ethos is implemented

in this article is because the authors are psychologists that interviewed other psychologists, for

that gives credibility to the authors that conducted this study because they were able to know

how the profession works and the information that was provided to them by the people who were

interviewed. Then also the article gains credibility with having the people who were interviewed

be people who have experienced and been witness to the topic that is being researched on. Then

the article uses pathos with the response of the participants because they are expressing the

emotions that they feel towards an experience or issue that they have been affected by. The

audience of this article is towards people who are interested to see what are the barriers of

addiction prevention and treatment for other countries in the world. This article is credible

towards its audience with being current, for it was published on March 1, 2018. Also the article

has credibility with the authors being psychologists that have clinical experience. The authors are

also credible because they cited the sources that they used in their article. They were also able to
use what their participants said to express and support what they found in their research. As like

the other sources this article has no bias towards a side, but supports the idea that prevention of

substance abuse can be done through proper educational and community reform.