PROFMEX-Consorcio Mundial para la Investigación sobre México

Felicitas Ibarra
Professor Wilkie
HIST 268- Recent Latin American History
June 18, 2004

In the Southwest, as well as Mexico, the narcoculture has been evolving during since the 1960s. Scholars, such as Luis Astorga and José Manuel Valenzuela, have tried to define this subculture. Narcocorridos, ballads of the drug traffic, illustrate the narcoculture as well as the deeds of the narcos. Similarly to traditional corridos, the narcocorridos continue to function as the unofficial history with editorial commentaries of the composer and/or community. Narcocorridos maintain the traditional characteristics of corridos defined by Armund Duvalier (1), the heroic vision of the protagonist, the idea of protest and conflict persists. However, there is a debate as to whether narcocorridos construct a eulogy to narcos and the narcoculture.

For the purpose of this study, I propose to consolidate a definition of narcoculture and narcocorridos and establish the debate of the violence associated with the narcoworld and narcocorridos. I will also include the commentaries of José Manuel Valenzuela's Jefe de Jefes: Corridos y narcocultura en México who defines narcoculture and comments on the key themes in narcocorridos. José Manuel Valenzuela defines the corpus of narcocorridos according to the theme: drugs, power, ostentation, gender relations, machismo, regionalismo, the gringo, and the moral. I will al so utilize the interviews of corrido composers made by Elijah Wald in Narcocorrido: A Journey into the Music of Drugs, Guns, and Guerrillas(2) to put into perspective the response and contribution of the composers to the debate.

To begin the discussion of narcocorridos, I will begin by defining narcoworld. The narcoworld is thus an encoded field which can be explained by the illegal actions and mythification of its participants (Valenzuela 288). The common image of the narco is "el camino fácil para obtener dinero" (Valenzuela 290), but at a high risk. The mythification can be reduced to the violent actions of the narcotraficantes. Narcocorridos function to show the participants of this narcoworld which includes narcos, police, public officials, and "respectable figures" (i. e. politics, church, artists). According to José Manuel Valenzuela, "Definir al narcomundo como una actividad ilegal que actúa corno una red de poderes que pernean al conjunto de la sociedad, pero también corno un capital simbólico que influye de manera importante en la definición de las representaciones colectivas" (293). In this narcoculture, there are characteristics that stand out: "lealtad y valor" (297), "violencia" (300), "poder" (313) and "corrupción" (328).

The narcocorridos portray the narcoculture and its characteristics. Elijah Wald defines the narcocorrido as "a startling anachronism, a medieval ballad style whose Robin Hoods now arm themselves with automatic weapons and fly shipments of cocaine in 747s" (2) According to José Valenzuela,

Narcos can be considered to be the new form of border outlaws continuing the tradition of the musical newspaper. Regarding the question of whether narcocorridos portrays an admiration, imitation, and veneration for drug smugglers, I believe that the narcocorrido utilizes the narco theme and the narco as a new form of social bandit.

As part of the narcoworld and culture, one can notice that the performers of narcocorridos use the image of the narcotraficantes to complete the performance and image of the narco. These drug smugglers have a distinct image. "Narco fashion" includes a cowboy hat, boots from leather of some exotic animal-ostrich skin, snake, caracol-gold chains, a large belt buckle, a sports suit of finely pressed slacks and jacket. This style is known as Chalinazo in the name of Chalino Sánchez,(3) a legendary and murdered singer of narcocorridos. Another style is the usage of the silk shirts-usually with ornate designs in brown, beige, and yellow-that have been popular from 19961998 in the Southwest of the United States and the Northwest of Mexico. Many of these shirts include logos of the Virgen of Guadalupe or Jesus Malverde(4) along with logos of animals, such as horses, and piedra del sol. Sporting Tony Lama boots, Stetson cowboy hats (the more Xs the better) and camisas de crema de seda became the rage in barrios and the vaquero clubs throughout the Southwest. The complement of this attire is the way the tejana or sombrero is worn(5) and the pistols or assault rifles. All of these styles are symbols of money and power. The attire adds to the violent culture that it represents.

Besides the attire, the narcocorridos capture the stereotypes of Sinaloa, which al so adds to the violent image of the narcos. According to "El Debate de Guamúchil," narcocorridos capture all of the stereotypes of Sinaloenses: "muy bravos, buenos para tomar, broncudos y amantes de las armas, incluso se ha llegado a sentir orgullo por ello, a tal grado que esta fama transcendió las fronteras de México.”(6) The reputation of Sinaloa is “como estado violento, productor de drogas y cuna de los más importantes capo s de la mafia, persistente y daña a quienes trabajan limpiamente; los esfuerzos que a la fecha se realizan por borrar esta imagen negativa parecen no fructificar.(7) According to Elijah Wald,

From Elijah Wald' s travels, it is clear that throughout Sinaloa narcoculture and symbols of the narcoworld are prevalent. The fact that within the state there are novels, poems, corridos, etc. implies that the inhabitants are embedded by the symbols and narcoculture.

Moreover, the narcocorrido codes the narco discourse, violent driving, celebration of regional music and the corrido, the exaggerated exhibition of jewelry, exhibition of arrogance and the imitation of power of the jefes de la mafia and tinting SUVs has all become identified with the culture of Sinaloa. This Sinaloense culture has traveled and influenced not only other states in Mexico, but also the cities where this music has circulated, such as Los Angeles, San Jose, Chicago, New York and Fresno. This attire, stereotypes, and reputation lie in the corridos and its performance. The narcos take pride in the respect they obtain from being recognized as being powerful.

Even though this discussion has mainly focused on the culture surrounding Sinaloa, it can be applied to most if not all narcocorridos of northern Mexico. Corridistas from northern Mexico have used this model of narcos to construct the character's heroic world and death and capture how narcos are brave men who take risks.

The narcocorridistas are re-inventing the story of such legendary figures as narcotraficantes.(8) This commercialized narcocorridos have circulated due to the fact that there is a market for these corridos: the appraisal of brave men and high risk situations. Many composers focus on constructing a heroic world for the narcos. The composer attempts to capture as much as possible of the life of the pueblo, especially the sierra. In this way, the narrations of these narcocorridos generally are about fearless men of action, larger than life, and their capacity to die fearlessly. These fearless narcos, who are constantly fighting the federales and the migra, are victorious in most cases. The theme is usually a "violent confrontation between individual men who often represent larger social causes, but just as often are concerned with their personal honor" (Limón 16). The narco attempts to appropriate the border since, with power and money, he can transport his products as many times as he desires. The migra-narco relationship "reflects the ensuing class conflict around the share code of land: the control and ownership of the means of production on the border".(9) We can see how many admire these narcos because they can "make it big" even with the economical limitations in Mexico. The narcocorridos attempt to show how narcos are risk-takers and can cross this border fortress with ease.

Trafficking in corridos, became a popular theme beginning in the 1960s with "Los Tequileros".(10) Corridos narrate the story of bandits or revolutionary heroes that have be en in Mexican folk music for at least a century, such as Emiliano Zapata or even Gregorio Cortez. In the case of Gregorio Cortez, we notice what Turner calls "status reversal" which is when "the structurally weak appropriate for themselves the right t o " berate the structurally powerful."(11) The social bandit has taken the right to fight his powerful opponent the rinche. In the same fashion within the mythification of narcos, narcos can also be seen as social bandits taking the right combat the "powerful" border officials. Narcocorridos have transformed the admiration for high risk situations of revolutionary heroes to drug traffickers. The drug traffickers became the new form of the social bandit. Moreover, narcocorridos limn the exploits of drug smugglers: executions, betrayals, shootouts with the federales and bloody events. The narco maintains certain characteristics of the revoluctionary heroes: "su presentación es la de un individuo cuyos actos lo enfrentan a peligros mortales que ponen a prueba su valor y entereza" (Hernández 219). The narcos engage in a dangerous scene and are brave men.

The function of narcocorridos is not to admire or sensationalize the drug dealing, for the most part; it's to celebrate the dangerous action that the narcos undertake and show how they are brave machos. According to Octavio Paz, the “macho”, la fuerza, se manifiesta casi siempre como capacidad de herir, raj ar, aniquilar, humillar" (90). There is a segment that looks with curiosity and admiration upon these men who have evaded justice. Narcocorridos admire these men who have evaded justice. For the Mexican, "la vida es una posibilidad de chingar(12) o de ser chingado. Es decir, de humillar, castigar o de ser chingado. O a la inversa" (Paz 90). Thus, the narco is the chingón who wins against the law. For the ching6n, the only thing that matters is "la hombría, el valor personal, capaz de imponerse" (Paz 80). We notice that these are all characteristics of the narco and we notice these narco figures that show how "el triunfo de lo cerrado, del macho, del fuerte, sobre lo abierto" (Paz 86) and will celebrate and admire how these Sinaloan men are chingones.

The narcocorridos create a story about legendary narcos that were great men, machos, and chingones as defined by Octavio Paz. All of these narcocorridos offer a heroic world, where valiant, tough men of the sierra triumphed were respected and still live in the memory of their community. Since corridos are aimed at a male audience, the drug trafficking is a commercial scheme to praise legendary brave Mexican men and their greatest value: their hombría.

From the large repertoire of narcocorridos, 1 will comment on the narcocorridos by Héctor Hernández, Lupillo Rivera and Juan Villareal to show the hombría, machismo and narcoculture. We shall focus on the poetic expressions of the corridos, "Ya murió Baltasar" by Héctor Hernández; "La muerte de Baltasar"; and "Se les peló Baltasar" by Juan Villareal; "Recordando a Baltasar" by Lupillo Rivera; and "El Morefio" and "Se les peló el Morefio" by Lupillo Rivera, that narrate the stories of the legendary narcos: "Baltasar Díaz" and "El Morefio". These corridos narrate their heroic and not so heroic deeds and exalt the community values: machismo and braveness. Even though "Baltasar Díaz" and "El Morefio's" actions may or may not be heroic, narcocorridos portray them as being great, valiant, brave machos from Sinaloa. We shall speculate and attempt to formulate the story of "Baltasar Díaz" and "El Morefio" through these narcocorridistas and how the commercialization of these corridos have mythified the narco figures in a codified manner. We shall see how drug trafficking is not as important in these narcocorridos as these narco figures, their braveness and their hombría.

Baltasar Díaz and El Moreño are two of the many legendary narco traficantes who are larger than life and who are symbols of the way these commercialized narcocorridos have utilized "status reversal" to entertain and humor audience. There is a cluster of corridos that glorify these two figures. According to Guillermo Hernández, "el héroe en el corrido de narcotráfico hereda el papel adjudicado al protagonista del corrido tradicional: un individuo con carisma que se enfrenta a situaciones peligrosas-frecuentemente al margen de la ley y arriesgando la vida-y que ponen a prueba su serenidad, valor y energía" (225). As for Baltasar Díaz, there are four corridos that tell his story: "Ya murió Baltasar" by Héctor Hernández; "La muerte de Baltasar"; and "Se les peló Baltasar" by Juan Villareal; and "Recordando a Baltasar" by Lupillo Rivera. "Se les peló Baltasar" tells us how he was heroic and how on the January 6th he always arrastraba la banda all over Culiacán and how after his death la musica de viento did not sound the same. Las bandas did not play the same because their inspiration was gone-Baltasar was gone. "Ya murió Baltasar" tells us . about how he died on January 27th and how everyone keeps missing him even after his death. "La muerte de Baltasar" tells us that Balsalba kills him at México, Distrito Federal and how his death spread to Culiacán and also his last will. Lastly, "Recordando Baltasar" is a complete appraisal and remembrance of the memory of Baltasar o Each corrido adds something different to Baltasar Díaz' s story , Each contributes a new piece to the puzzle of this legendary hero o At the same time, they all promote how he was a macho, a gran chingón o El Moreño' s story is similar to Baltasar; however, these two corridos portray the prepotency of the narcos o "El Moreño" was a violent man who only forgave God. He was trying to get away and he was so drunk that he tripped and rolled down the hill and he had ammunition, but it did not work and that is why he was captured . In "Se les peló el Moreño", he is out of jail and he is drunk again and arrastrando la banda o This corrido adds that this time he has ammunition that is guaranteed to kill if they get in his way. Therefore, this corrido portrays the arrogance and superiority of narco.

"Se les peló Baltasar", performed by El Dueto, Voces del Rancho,(14) implements the corrido characteristics differently from the traditional corrido. The corrido starts with a llamada from a drunken man in a bar asking the El Dueto, Voces del Rancho to sing this corrido: "Yo quiero que/Las Voces del Rancho/Se echen el corrido de Baltasar/Vámonos señores" (vv. 1). In this corrido, we can notice that "the greeting is redefined tool the composer employs to make the actual audience believe that they are part of the narrator's exclusive circle of friends"(Simmonet 232). This corrido tells us how he is on the federales' wanted list and he is sitting nonchalant in his "ranchito querido" (vv. 2) ... "moliendo caña" (vv. 2). However, Baltasar is astute because he is "dificil de cazar" (vv. 3) like a "venado lampareado" (vv. 3).(15) Even if they try to trap its impossible for them to catch him because he knows the ropes: "tiene experiencia en brincar" (vv. 3). Besides he knew that the federales could not arrest him because they had no proof that he was guilty of drug smuggling. After escaping the authori ties Baltasar would then go to the Sierra-his sanctuary-riding his horse. From the Sierra, he was nostalgic for his friends and his "linda güera" (vv. 6). In turn, people missed him as well and celebrated January 6th in his name. Like in the traditional corrido, this corrido implements the voice of Baltasar as a despedida: "Ay, Culiacán tan hermoso/Desde el filo de la sierra/Tus luces yo las diviso/Como admirar las estrellas/Como extraño a mis amigos/También a mi linda güera" (vv. 6). After Baltasar' s despedida, the El Dueto, Voces del Rancho close with: "Los compas de Sinaloa/Van a empezar a tomar /Y aquí las Voces del Rancho/Están listos pa' cantar/El merito seis de enero/Se festeja Baltasar" (vv. 7). El Dueto, Voces del Rancho commits to remember Baltasar whenever anyone pleases to hear the story. Every time this dueto sing this corrido, they revive Baltasar' s drunken days.

"Ya se murió Baltasar" is a remembrance for memory of Baltasar Díaz that was from the Sierra from Sinaloa. This corrido explains how everyone is sad that he was massacred on January 27th, 1994. "El gran jefe Baltasar" (vv. 1) was "un gran czar" (vv. 1), "era internacional" (vv. 3) and "amigo a carta cabalu (vv. 4). He was a great drug smuggler, but al so an extraordinary friendo Apparently, this corrido questions how he died because "le pusieron un cuatro " (vv. 2). The culprit of this trap could not be discovered by Mexican government and "menos el americano" (vv. 3); since, it was an "Azote de criminals/que lo querian ahuyentar” (vv. 5). It's quite clear that it was rival narco traficantes. But he knew how to "make it big" “Se forró entre los grandes/y se supo respetar” (vv. 5)--in Culiacán, Sinaloa. This corrido gives us a clue that this czar--this chingón, this macho-- is smuggling in Bamopa.

It is possible that the Baltasar Diaz, in these corridos, is really telling the story of Rafael Caro Quintero. Rafael Caro Quintero was imprisoned in a Mexican jail and convicted of drug trafficking and the murder of Enrique Camarena, a United States drug agent. In Bamopa and many other cities and towns in Sinaloa, Rafael Caro Quintero was one, if not the most, famous and praised drug smuggler. He was a praised as a God or a Saint to the inhabitants of the pueblo because of his charity to the improvement of the town. Abelino Ortiz, an inhabitant of Bamopa, claims, "The good memories he left will not me erased."(17) In Bamopa, as in many other Sinaloense towns, the narco charity has be en an important weapon in winning the hearts and minds of its inhabitants, if not their souls. La Noria claims to be the home this marijuana king where people claim that he built a pink white church in one of the hills near the town. According to the investigation by The Voice, the drug lord was kind and handed money to the sick and poor. The movie "Lamberto Quintero" portrays how the people of these small towns, with little hope for advancement, praise these drug smugglers for Gods because of their charity. In this movie, we can see that people carne from far away lands to ask for money and Lamberto would give them money. He was known best for his generosity. Lamberto Quintero parallels the myth of Rafael Caro Quintero as well as the legendary drug lord, Baltasar Díaz. Even though, few corridos have been written in the name of Rafael Caro Quintero, it is possible that Baltasar Díaz tells his story. We can notice from the corrido that he was a humble, poor man at first-the ideal social bandit of intercultural conflict according to Américo Paredes--and then with time he became and important drug smuggler.

Another corrido that is part of this cluster of corridos of Baltasar Díaz is the "La muerte de Baltasar" . This attempts to remember Baltasar and how much his memory is cherished in the town he was from, Culiacán. What is unique about "La muerte de Baltasar" is that Baltasar tells us his last words--his will. He leaves his horse-possibly a metaphor for the drug smuggling business--to his Compadre Bernardo and he asks for cancioneros to sing his favorite song, "La chuparrosa". This corrido al so has no llamada or despedida by the corridista, but it has a despedida by the Baltasar: "Es triste la despedida/Y más para el que se queda/Adiós mis hijos queridos/Y también mi linda güera/Adiós a mi compadre Bernardo/Adiós lindas borracheras" (vv. 6). By saying good-bye to his children and Susana, his lover, we notice he is a great macho because he has many children and a lover that pleases him. By reproducing, he is showing his hombría, and he inherits his machismo to this hijos. Lastly, the narrator shows us the stereotype of being bravo and being a drunk, which are symbols of machismo. Baltasar is portrayed as the typical Sinaloense: a macho.

"Recordando Baltasar" is also a shift from the other cluster of corridos. The performer who sings this song is Lupillo Rivera. Like Las Voces del Rancho, Lupillo attempts to bring in the audience in his narration. He also makes a llamada to the family of Baltasar: "No se me ahuite la familia Díaz" (vv. 1). In this same tone, the corridista begins with making it clear that he is remembering Baltasar: "Un hombre de Sinaloa/Que siempre fue a todo dar" (vv. 2). This corridista keeps making llamadas to the Raza, but he makes his llamadas to the Sinaloenses because he is going to make reaffirm that the people from Culiacán will never forget him, since on January sixth the bandas did not play the same. This corrido takes the verse from "Se les peló Baltasar" to end his corrido. Like "Se les peló Baltasar", this corrido ends with no despedida, not from the corridista or from Baltasar.

As a cluster, each different corrido has a different element to add---different facts and different elements of the corrido. "Se les peló Baltasar" tells us how he was astute at getting away from the federales and how he escaped from them to his refuge, la sierra. "Ya se murió Baltasar" gives us the exact date he was killed, January 27, 1994. This corrido also tells us that he "combatió como fiera". He was a good fighter and a good hero, un buen macho. "La muerte de Baltasar" tells that he was killed in Mexico, D.F. by Balsalba and how the news got to Culiacán and gives us his last words and his will. "Recordando Baltasar" is a remembrance of his memory and a saludo to the Raza, Baltasar family and Sinaloenses.

Another cluster of narcocorridos that have a similar, if not the same story line, are "El Moreño" and "Se les peló el Moreño". Even though we do not to know whom the corridista refers to, one possibility was that he was referring to Amado Carrillo Fuentes, "el Señor de los Cielos."(22) Another possibility is that the corridos are referring to Rafael Caro Quintero, which we mentioned above. Narcocorridistas prefer not to use their real names due to their own protection. They are afraid of the narcos and their power. Lupillo Rivera admits "Cuando compongo corridos de gente como ellos, pues mejor leo en el periódico y me informo. Prefiero no usar los nombres reales.(23)

"El Moreño" is not so heroic or bravo because "El Moreño traiba parque/Pero el parque no servía/Y por eso en San Ignacio/Lo aprendió la policía" (vv. 1). He was captured because he was unlucky--his ammunition did not work-and he dropped his gun. Even though he was so drunk, he dropped his gun, and he was captured, Lupillo still makes him seem as if he is bravo because "Era hombre y no se rajaba/Sólo a Dios él perdonaba" (vv. 2). Lupillo appropriates himself of the Sinaloense stereotype that a Sinaloense is bravo and braveo However, El Moreño made a spectacle of himself as he dropped his gun and rolled down the hill and was arrested. Again the fact that El Moreño was drunk adds to the Sinaloense stereotype because they are thought to be heavy drinkers, violent and hostile.

However, we can notice how Lupillo is changing the legendary figure, since the hero is no longer the great macho that beats his opponent; here the hero drops his gun. We can notice that Lupillo changes the structure of a traditional corrido of intercultural conflict, "Corrido de Gregorio Cortez": "Decia Gregorio Cortez/ con su pistola en la mano/ --No siento haberlo matado, / lo que siento es a mi hermano".

"Se les peló el Morefio" continues the storyline of El Morefio.(24) By the title, we know El Morefio has escaped prison and he is back to his old ways of being arrogant and hostile: "El Morefio se pasea/Entre las calles del pueblo/Anda alegre y bien borracho/Trae la música de viento" (vv. 3) ... El Morefio les gritaba/de arriba su caballo/Aqui estoy pa' que me agarre/el que se sienta ma' gallo" (vv. 5). El Morefio challenges anyone who has the hombría to go apprehend him. Again, like a typical Sinaloense, he feels that he can be más hombre and no se raja. Because he no se raja, he will kilI anyone, even the bar tender if he does not bring him his bottle of tequila. Its interesting how "Se les peló el Morefio" tells us how bravo he was since: "Vuela, vuela palomita/No te canses de volar/Ya se les peló el Morefio/El Morefio junto con Baltasar" (vv. 11). Here, the corridista gives you the impression that El Moreño has mastered the art of escaping just like Baltasar, another drug trafficker.

Are narcocorridistas promoting narcotics and drug trafficking? Is there a participation of corridistas in the narcoculture world?

As John H. McDowell states: the narcocorrido is "a marketing phenomena among young people in the borderlands" (McDowell 200). The Sinaloan state has banned narcocorridos from the airwaves due to the narcoculture that has developed since the 1990s. "The reaction against the narcocorrido is rooted in the celebratory thesis, the notion that these corridos are celebrating the deeds of the narcotraficantes (drug traffickers) and thereby contributing to their prominence" (McDowell 200). Helena Simmonet concurs with McDowell and defines the narcocorrido as commercial: "recorded on compact discs and is made available to a mass audience" (230). McDowell attempts to complete his study of poetry and violence and find how narcocorridos create the "social drama" and its influence on the community. McDowell states how he cannot make a conclusion from his study since he also needs to look at the parameters of violence in television, videogames, and movies.

The theme of trafficking is just that a theme. It does not really matter in what kind of business they were involved in, since, it is just a theme used to praise the braveness and machismo of Sinaloan meno Valenzuela concurs and explains:

Now we need to see what the composers have to say about the debate. Elij ah Wald has conducted interviews with Ángel González, Paulino Vargas, Chalino Sánchez, Mario Quintero, Francisco Quintero, the Rivera Family, Enrique Franco, Jesse Armenta, Julián Garza, , Andrés Contreras, Reynaldo Martínez, Salome Gutiérrez, Gabriel Villanueva, and Teodoro Bello. 1 will not discuss all of their interviews in this paper, but 1 will discuss the contradictions that Wald establishes regarding narcocorridos, narcoculture and corridistas.

Many of these composers believe that their corridos provide a "voice for the voiceless”, but in Wald's interviews many reveal that have gotten gifts and/or money for composing corridos for narcos. The initiators of the movement Angel González and Paulino Vargas state that they are not linked to drug trafficking. Angel Gonzalez states that he only knows of the subject by hearsay (Wald 20) while Paulino Vargas

Other corridistas, Chalino Sánchez and Francisco Quintero, follow the same pattern, but are paid by narcotraficantes for their corridos

Beginning with Rosalindo "ChalinoH Sanchez, Elijah Wald' s findings support that Chalino was involved in the narcoculture and drug trafficking along with producing music for i ts participants. Chalino began his career in jail writing for his inmates. After that, Wald explain how "he would write on commission, serving as a sort of musical press agent for whoever cared to come up with the cash" (Wald 7 O). He began recording them with Pedro Rivera and Cintas Acuario. Chalino called these corridos de amistad. Chalino's corridos were mostly murder ballads. After achieving some success, Chalino was killed on January 20, 1992. No one really knows why he was killed or who, but many claim it was drug related.

On the other hand, the Rivera Family, Jenni Rivera, Pedro Rivera, Lupillo Rivera were the first Los Angeles corrido family. Pedro Rivera began as a singer and founded Cintas Acuario. The Rivera family stated that they wrote what their public enjoyed, but made no mention of how they constructed their corridos or whether they were involved in trafficking. From Wald' s findings one can concur that the Rivera family find corridos to be a marketing phenomena.

When interviewing Salome Gutiérrez, he establishes the contradictions of other corridistas and how the do not want to admit that they write some corridos on commission for a drug lord. He admits:

Salome accuses Paulino Vargas, who said he did not take commisions, Julián Garza and Reynaldo Martínez of taking commissions from narcos. Lupillo Rivera and Mario Quintero have al so be en accused of taking commissions from narcos, but do not openly admit it. According to Elijah Wald, these are the composers that actually have contact with narcos and write their story and sing it.

There is a dichotomy as to how people form both sides of the border view these corridos: appraisal and disgust. The inhabitants of the towns praise the legendary figures. However, other common leaders in Sinaloa view how narcocorridos add to the violence in the towns and how these corridos accept this violence. Narcocorridos are an art form that is part of a violent culture in Sinaloa. Composers and narcocorridistas are just spoke men and they serve as the press. They tell their dangerous deeds. However, they do not include how these narcos live a dishonest life, how many do not live very long, and how non e have a normal life--narcos are always on the run.

People of these towns that the narcos come from are gracious for their help. According to Pacific News Service "Drug Traffickers: Modern Mexican heroes?" there are a lot of immediate results. First, the government does little to solve the smuggling because they provide services in farflung communities. These narcos have paved streets, built clinics and paid for operations. In other words, the narcos function as a government. They provide the services that the government supposed to provide. Sam Quiñones says that from the people he interviewed one claimed that "But since they have no money, no one says anything. People know they (the narcos) are doing wrong, but they feel bad when something bad happens to someone how helped people."(25) Also, he claims people do not ca re where money comes from as long as they are helped.

On the other hand, leaders of the Sinaloa, as well as in the United States, have banned and boycotted these songs. Jesús Ontiveros is angry at the Drug Lord admiration in narcocorridos. He is promoting how corridos now have negative and violent messages. He calls the music overall the "música violenta". He claims that:

He, like others, thinks that narcocorridos promote how narcos "make it big" dishonestly and how that is affecting the youth of Mexico. He claims many children aspire to be the narcos because they see their power and how people praise these drug lords. The youth attempt to imitate the legendary narcos. Ontiveros points out how the youth unconsciously are becoming more aggressive.

Robles Hernández(27) agrees with Jesús Ontiveros. He does not favor this music because i t is "música violenta" and "cultura de violencia." Due to this attitude towards the narcocorridos, in June 1993, there have been efforts to ban this music from the airwaves. The project was called ¡Apaga la música nociva! Again in the year 2001 the governor of Sinaloa, Juan S. Millán, the President of Cámara Nacional de la Industria de la Radio y Televisión, Joaquín Vargas, and the President of Consejo Consultivo de la Nacional de la Industria de la Radio y de la Televisión, Roque Chávez, agreed to expand this to a nationwide boycott(28) as well as United States. The objective was to create a conscience of how this music is a negative influence to the Mexican youth and to permanently proliferate it. He claims that "esa música que hace apología del crimen, que con sus mensajes crudos fermenta lo que podría llamarse la cultura de la violencia, y de la muerte.(29) He al so claims that the Sinaloense society have accepted the violence like something inevitable and part of the social stature of the state. However, he affirms that they have greatly affected the youth. He says that the youth now do not want to have an honest job because it takes to long to own a classy pick up, a ranch or a nice home. Hernández claims that the youth see how through drug smuggling can acquire such luxuries much faster than by working the fields. According to the logistics of the narcocorridos, "esforzarse y luchar con un trabajo honesto para hacer posible las legítimas aspiraciones materiales es un camino común que lleva muchos años.”(30)

On the other hand, performers argue that their intention is to please their listeners. Osear Lugo López, leader of the Sociedad de Autores y Compositores (Society of Authors and Composers) of Culiacán, claims that the composers and performers should not be blamed for the violence of the state, since, they narrate events that are real and "mientras que éstos sigan habrá corridos que narren esa situación.(31) He claims that "no son apologias de la violencia, sino manifestaciones de lo popular.”(32) In this same fashion, Joel Medina Zapata, Manager of the Promedios del Norte de Sinaloa, claims that the intentions of this grupo norteño are to "divertir y crear una cultura diferente, con sentido más alegre.”(33) They claim that it's not necessarily the music that fermented this kind of negative reaction, since narcocorridos narrate the stories, but the narco violence is real and it exists.

The narcocorridos and narcocorridistas are just the transmitters of these stories that everyone attempts to ignore as being non-existing. The stories are real and the narcocorridos continue to function was the unofficial history with editorial commentaries.

"Se les Peló Baltasar"
Written by Juan Villareal
Sung by El Dueto, Voces del Rancho

Yo quiero que
Las Voces del Rancho
Se avienten el corrido de Baltasar
Vámonos señores.

Estando moliendo caña
En su ranchito querido
Buscaban a Baltasar
Para llevarlo al presidio
Eran buenos cazadores
Con experiencia peligro.

Un venado lampareado
Es difícil de cazar
Aunque le pongan la trampa
Tiene experiencia brincar
Se quedaron con las ganas
Se les peló Baltasar.

Sólo el que carga el moral
Le sabe su contenido

Por eso la federal
Quería llevarlo al presidio
No se le comprobó nada
Se les bajó en el camino.

Se fue con rumbo a la sierra
Montado en su bailador
Su caballo preferido
Que lo quiere con amor
Lo mismo baila un guapango
Que un corrido, una canción.

Ay, Culiacán tan hermoso
Desde el filo de la sierra
Tus luces yo las diviso
Como admirar las estrellas
Como extraño a mis amigos
También a mi linda güera.

Los campas de Sinaloa
Van a empezar a tomar
y aquí las Voces del Rancho

Están listos pa' cantar
El merito seis de enero
Se festeja Baltasar.

Appendix B
"Ya murió Baltasar"
written by Héctor Héctor Hernández
sung by Lobito de la Sierra

Appendix D
"Recordando a Baltasar"
Written and Performed by
Lupillo Rivera

Appendix F
"Se nos pelo el Moreño"
Written and Performed by Lupillo Rivera

Duvalier, Armando. "Romance y corrido". Cristol 15 (September): 8-16; (November): 135-141 193.

Flores, Richard. "Revolution, Folklore, and the Political Unconscious: 'Los Sediciosos' as a Social Symbolic Act." Paper read at the 1987 Meetings of the American Folklore Society, Albuquerque, NM 1987.

Guillermo Hernández, "El ayer y hoy: nuevas notas para su estudio." Entre la magia y la historia: tradiciones, mitos y leyendas de la frontera, ed. José Manuel Valenzuela Arce (Tijana: Colegio de la Frontera Norte, 1992).

Limón, José E. Mexican Ballads, Chicano Poems: History and Influence in Mexican-American Social Poetry. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992.

McDowell, John H. "The Mexican Corrido: Formula and Theme in a Ballad Tradition". Journal of American Folklore 85:205-20.

-Poetry and Violence: the Ballad Tradition of Mexico's Costa Chica. Chicago: University Press, 2000.

Mignolo, Wal ter D. Local Histories /Global Designs: Coloniality, Subaltern Knowledges, and Border thinking. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000.

Sheridan, Mary Beth. "Drug Lord Donation to Church Fuels Uproar In Mexico Drug Trafficker' s Charity Benefi ts Roman Catholic Church?", The Voice. from Los Angeles Times, 23 October 1997 <http://voice.bloomu.edu/10-2397/nation/nation3.html >.

Simonett, Helena. Banda: Mexican Musical Life Across Borders. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 2001.

Valenzuela, José Manuel. Jefe de Jefes: Corridos y narcocultura en México. México: Plaza & Janés. 2002.

Wald, Elij ah. Narcocorrido: A Journey into the Music of Drugs, Guns, and Guerrillas. New York: Harper Collins Publishers. 2001.

(1) Like the corrido tradition, the narcocorrido tradition has: an initial llamada; a place; a date; the name of the protagonist; the formulation of the events; a message; a despedida of the character; and a despedida of the corridista. (Armando Duvalier. "Romance y corrido". Cristol 15 (September): 8-16; (November): 135-141 193)

(2) Elijah Wald defines the corpus of narcocorridos according to the composers: Angel González, Paulino Vargas, Chalino Sánchez, Mario Quintero, the Rivera Family, Enrique Franco, Jesse Armenta, Julián Garza, Andrés Contreras, Gabriel Villanueva and Teordoro Bello.

(3) Sam Quiñones and Elijah Wald concur on the fact that Chalino Sánchez sets the road for style of the corrido boom (Wald 69). The narcocorridos written by Chalino Sánchez inspired other writers to write commercial corridos with the narco theme.

(4) Jesús Malverde is a legendary bandit. The press at the time called him the "Narco Saint". According to The News, in reality, Malverde was a common criminal who was hanged by the government in 1909. But some of Mexico's most powerful smugglers have joined local s in paying homage at his shrine just around the corner from the statehouse in Culiacán, capital of Sinaloa. However, there is no documentation on the reason why he was hanged. The inhabitants of Sinaloa see him as a drug smuggler because of the influence of the narcocorridos. After his death, the Culiacán community began attributing miracles to him: a child cured of life-threatening disease¡ a blind man who suddenly could see; and a weak woman who walked. Many people go to Culiacán to pay homage to this "Narcosantón"-the Big Narco Saint. Locals of Culiacán say drug smugglers go each year to pray for bountiful marihuana and poppy harvests, successful shipments of cocaine and protection from enemy bullets. (Anita Show, "Drug Smugglers Are Saints to Many in Northern Mexico", The Detroit News 4 September 1995 http://detnews.com/menu/stories/15394.htm) .

(5) Both styles, at least until the early 1990s, wore the tejana or sombrero to the left side-the sombrero ladeado like Chalino Sánchez.

(8) These narcotraficantes have become the controlling power in their particular community. It is a trend to sing about legendary narcotraficantes such as Lamberto Quintero, who was a legendary narco that was gunned down in Culiacán, Sinaloa' or Baltasar Díaz. According the Media Awareness Project and many newspapers, many claim that these legendary narcotraficantes never die because they showed commitment and redress to their community. In Sinaloa, especially, many have benefited from these drug lords. These drug lords pave streets; they built schools; or churches and more. These narcotraficantes give money away and throw parties. They learn to earn the appraisal of the people in their communities. Often times, these stories are exaggerated in the narcocorridos, especially the death of the narco.

(9) Richard Flores, "Revolution, Folklore, and the Political Unconscious: 'Los Sediciosos' as a Social Syrnbolic Act." Paper read at the 1987 Meetings of the American Folklore Society, Albuquerque, NM 1987.

(11) Victor Turner, The Ritual Process, Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company, 1969.

(12) According to Octavio Paz, chingar denotes "violence, salir de si mismo y penetrar por la fuerza a otro. Y también, herir, rasgar, violar-cuerpos, almas, objetos--, destruir." In addition, chingar is also "el triunfo de lo cerrado, del macho, del fuerte, sobre lo abierto." (Octavio Paz, El Laberinto de Soledad, (México: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1950): 85)

(14) By the name, El Dueto Voces del Rancho, we can notice that these corridistas attempt to make a call out to those that come from the rancho-the pueblo. They attempt to assimilate the norteño music that is heard in Mexico-accordion oriented. If we speculate their identity, they do not dress like the two styles that we have talked about in the earlier body of this paper. They dress mostly in leather suits, with their ostrich skinned boots and sombreros. In this way, they try to be relating to the identity of their listeners in Los Angeles. The audience they are singing to are mostly Mexican Americans, and still some immigrated Mexicans. In the ranchos, only the narcos could afford to wear the ostrich skinned boots and the leather suits. They have taken the narco image and materialized it in the American fashion and in a way, similar to the narcos. In either way, since they are professional singers they are selling themselves as taking the typical image that in Mexico is associated with the narcos.

(15) Lampareado means running scared. In this case, a deer that is scared runs and hides in such a way that no one can catch him, like Baltasar.

(17) Mary Beth Sheridan, "Drug Lord Donation to Church Fuels Uproar In Mexico Drug Trafficker; s Chari ty Benefits Roman Catholic Church," The Voice, from Los Angeles Times, 23 October 1997 <http://voice.bloomu.edu/10-23-97/nation/nation3.html >.

(22) Amado Carrillo Fuentes is known as "El Señor de los Cielos" for his use of 727 jets to transpose cocaine. Amado was the partner of another drug czar, Pablo Acosta. Amado was part of the Guadalajara drug cartel and was sent to Ojinaga to oversee cocaine shipments that belonged to his bosses and to learn about border operations form Pablo Acosta. Through his protection scheme with the Mexican federal and state police agencies, and wi th the Mexican army, Acosta was able to assure the security for five tons of cocaine a month flown by turbo pop form Colombia to Ojinaga-sometimes landing at the municipal airport, sometimes at dirt airstrips on ranches upriver from Ojinaga. "El Señor de los Cielos" died in a hospital in México, DF on July 4th after having been in plastic and liposuction surgery. ("Señor de los Cielos voló de Santiago a La Habana", La Tercera en Internet 19 September 1997 <http:// www.tercera.cl/diario/1997/09/19/12».

(23) El Toro del Corrido Website 2001 www.geocities.com/eltorodelcorrido/entrevista.html.

(27) Robles Hernández is the Director de Vinculación Social del Congreso del Estado de Sinaloa.

(28) The Cámara Nacional de la Industria de la Radio y Televisión (CNIRT) have convened to the following terms: (1) Poner un alto a la apología de la violencia, narcotráfico, drogadicción y alcoholismo, así como todo aquello que pretenda enaltecer la delincuencia; (2) Realizar un estudio que permita retirar toda la música que haga apología de los vicios, violencia y narcotráfico en las estaciones de radio y televisión; (3) Prevenir a los jóvenes sobre los riesgos del consumo de drogas, con la participación de todos los locutores que trabajan en los medios afiliados a la cámara, por lo que se llevará a cabo una labor de concientización entre el personal que diariamente tiene espacios en el aire en todos los programas; (4) Desarrollar, con las autoridades, una cultura de la denuncia a través de la difusión de números de emergencia en cada municipio, para que los ciudadanos reporte, hechos delictivos; (5) Desarrollar una cultura de participación ciudadana, exhortando a la sociedad a contribuir en las campañas para erradicar la violencia y el consumo de drogas; (6) Impulsar una campaña de apoyo a aquellas actividades relacionadas con el combate a la violencia como el deporte, la sana recreación, la cultura y los valores cívicos. (Jesús Ontiveros, "Di no a la música violenta", El Debate de Guamúchil 6 June 1997 http://www.mit.edu/people/aaelenes/musica/dinoalam.html) .