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A Mexican Mayor's head was found on top of a pickup truck after taking Office · Murder Files Unsealed

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  Speaker 1: You know, sometimes you see a single image and it
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  just it just hits you in the gut. And that's
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  kind of how I felt looking at this photo, which
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  is well, it's where our deep dive starts today. It's
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  a rough one. I'm not gonna lie. We're talking about Alejandro.
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  Speaker 2: Arcos, mayor of Chilpan Singer.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, Alejandro ArkOS, the mayor of Chilpin Singo in Mexico, and.
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  Speaker 2: Chilpin Singo itself is important here. It's not just some
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  you know, remote town we're talking about. It's a city,
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  a big one, almost three hundred thousand people, the capital
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  of Guerrero State. This wasn't some small town.
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  Speaker 1: Crime, exactly exactly. This was a major political assassination. This
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  guy Arcos, he gets elected, sworn in. Six days later
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  he's dead, assassinated, and it wasn't just you know, a
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  quiet killing. They placed his severed head on the roof
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  of his truck, his body was inside, and then, like
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  something out of nightmare, the images were plastered all over
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  social media, which.
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  Speaker 2: And this is the awful part, is often the point. Yeah,
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  they wanted to send a message, and that message is terrifying,
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  especially for people in Mexico. Guerrero. Did you see the
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  bit about Arcos's secretary.
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  Speaker 1: Way, his secretary was killed too.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, shot to death just days before Arcos.
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  Speaker 1: That's that's awful. You mentioned this wasn't an isolated incident.
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  What did you mean by that?
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  Speaker 2: Well, sadly, violence against politicians, especially those who get in
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  the way of the cartels, it's tragically common in that region.
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  In Guerrero alone, at least six candidates running for office
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  were murdered before the June elections this year, just this year.
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  Speaker 1: So we're talking about drug cartels being behind this.
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  Speaker 2: It's hard to imagine anyone else with that kind of well, brutality,
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  that kind of power to just silence anyone who gets
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  in their way. It's just they're fighting for territory, for resources,
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  but ultimately for power, and they don't hesitate to use
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  extreme violence to maintain their grip. This case, it's a
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  tragic example of how dangerous it is to be a
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  politician who opposes them, or even just gets in their ways.
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  Speaker 1: It's easy to get stuck on the brutality of it all,
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  you know, But there is something else in what you
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  sent over, something else about this. It really got to me.
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  It felt almost poignant arcosis social media, he was posting
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  about Hurricane John.
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  Speaker 2: Oh right, the one that just hit that area.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, like right as he was taking office. It
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  was like he was trying to, I don't know, make
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  a difference right away despite everything else. You know.
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  Speaker 2: It's yeah, it's a detail that really sticks with you,
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  isn't it? And it adds a whole other layer to
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  this whole thing which is already so messed up. Hurricane John.
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  It was Category three when it hit near Acapulco, and
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  it just caused utter devastation, especially in that region we're
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  talking about, you know, widespread flooding, infrastructure completely wrecked, thousands displaced.
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  It was a full blown disaster.
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  Speaker 1: So you've got the city already dealing with this like
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  insane level of cartel violence, and then this hurricane hits.
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  What does that even like, what does that even do
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  to a new mayor trying to establish himself.
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  Speaker 2: In that It's I mean, talk about an impossible situation.
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  And the sad truth is that when you see this
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  level of chaos and instability, know what happens? It creates
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  opportunities criminal organizations, cartels. They see an opening to exploit
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  the situation and just tighten their grip on power even.
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  Speaker 1: More so, are you saying the hurricane you think it
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  might have actually played a role in arcos assassination or
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  I don't know, Am I making too much of a
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  connection there.
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  Speaker 2: It's well, we can't say for sure without you know,
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  without having something more concrete to go on. Yeah, but
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  it's definitely, I mean, it's something to think about the
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  timing of it. All the pressure on Arcos, the fact
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  that the cartels are always looking to capitalize on these situations.
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  It all ends up. Think about right after a disaster
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  like this, resources are scarce, people are desperate, and the
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  authorities are just completely overwhelmed. It's a perfect storm for
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  these cartels. They step in, they start distributing aid, maybe
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  recruit some new members while they're at it, maybe even
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  take out some rivals, and they can get away with
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  it more easily because everything's so chaotic.
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  Speaker 1: It's like the hurricane just threw gasoline on an already
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  like raging fire, you know. And then the article it
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  mentioned these two gangs, specifically the Ardios and the Flockos.
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  Their tactics are I mean, they're the stuff of nightmares.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, these guys, they don't mess around. They want everyone
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  to know who's in charge. They pretty much controlled the
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  drug trade in that whole region last year. You know
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  they did. They shut down a highway, a major highway,
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  for two days.
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  Speaker 1: They just they shut it down completely.
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  Speaker 2: Took it hostage to get some of their leaders out
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  of jail.
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  Speaker 1: They held a whole highway hostage for two days to
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  get their buddies.
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  Speaker 2: Out of jail. And that's not even the worst of it.
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  They took hostages too, and not just you know, random
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  people were talking police officers, government officials. They even stole
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  a police vehicle and armored one and rammed it right
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  into the gates of the state legislature building.
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  Speaker 1: Are you serious? This is I mean, how do you
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  even how do you even fight that? How do you
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  maintain any kind of law and order when you're up
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  against that.
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  Speaker 2: It's well, it shows you just how deep this all goes,
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  how much power they actually have. And it's not always
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  about brute force either. Remember that bit about the previous
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  mayor of Chilpan Singo who.
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  Speaker 1: Was caught meeting with those gang leaders on video.
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  Speaker 2: Yep, that one, And it's well, it's not exactly unheard of. Unfortunately,
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  that kind of you know, influence. It gets everywhere, and
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  it's not just local officials either. Just last week, the
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  Mexican Army they had to seize weapons from the local
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  police in Kulia Kan.
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  Speaker 1: They what why, what was going on there?
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  Speaker 2: Infiltration the army. They were worried the local cops were
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  either working with the cartels or or they were just
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  so outmatched their weapons would basically end up in the
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  cartel's hands. Anyway, Either way, not good. It shows you
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  how deeply rooted this whole thing is.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know, it's it's easy to get overwhelmed by
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  stories like this, like what can you even do when
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  faced with this level of I don't know, just corruption
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  and violence.
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  Speaker 2: I get it, it's a natural reaction, but it's important
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  to remember Alejandra Arcos and his secretary, they were just
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  names in an article. They represent a whole lot of
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  people who live every day with this kind of violence.
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  Speaker 1: It's true. It's a good reminder that behind and all
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  these crazy headlines, there are real people. It makes you
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  think about what it means to, you know, to really
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  be informed about these things. It's not enough to just
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  read a headline and move on, is it?
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  Speaker 2: Not at all? It's about understanding the whole picture, all
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  the different things that connect these events. It's about seeing
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  the human cost and asking ourselves the tough questions, what
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  can we do to make a difference? How do we
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  create a better world?
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  Speaker 1: Well said, I think that's a good place to leave
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  it for today. If this deep dive into Alejandro Arcos's
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  story has taught us anything it's that sometimes the stories
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  that matter most are the ones that force us to
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  look past the headlines and really, you know, really confront
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  the difficult realities. Thanks for joining us.