Advance ticket sales have ended but plenty of additional tickets remain available at the door.
Profs and Pints DC presents: “The Rise of Mexican Drug Cartels,” with Dan Schneider, who researches the fight against drug trafficking and teaches courses on transnational crime as an assistant professor at American University’s School of International Service.
Mexican drug cartels have grown immensely over the past 30 years. Not only have they brought unprecedented levels of violence to the country, they also have been able to use their immense wealth and firepower to pull onto their payrolls tens of thousands of government officials—from street cops to Cabinet secretaries and, it is alleged, more than one president.
Come to DC’s Bier Baron Tavern to learn in depth about Mexican drug cartels and U.S. and Mexican efforts to combat them from Professor Daniel Schneider, a former federal prosecutor and expert on transnational crime, corruption, and terrorism. Having previously given excellent Profs and Pints talks on the making of terrorists and on the illicit international money flow exposed by the Pandora Papers, he’s sure to give you a much more informed perspective on the drug war.
He’ll discuss the cartels’ history, looking at how they have gained enormous power and their use of violence and bribery to accomplish their goals. And he’ll examine how they have managed to grow dramatically despite our nations’ expenditure of more than $1 trillion over 50 years to fight drug trafficking and Mexico’s transformation during that time from a one-party state to a multi-party democracy, a development that had created hopes of a reduction in corruption.
He'll field your questions and tackle a big one asked for years and never answered with much success: Is there a better way to wage the “drug war”? (Advance tickets: $12. Doors: $15, or $13 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later. Please allow yourself time to place any orders and get seated and settled in. Bring proof of vaccination and a mask, as both may be required in response to local infection rates. The Bier Baron will be requiring event attendees to purchase a minimum of two items, which can be food or beverages, including soft drinks.)
Image: The U.S. booking photo of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán after his 2017 his extradition from Mexico. Photo: U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.