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Ioan Grillo
Recent Articles
How the Sinaloa Cartel Just Beat the Mexican Army
In Mexico’s big cities, drug cartel gunmen normally act like phantoms. They hide in safe houses or amid communities, suddenly striking with an assassination or a gunfight, and then disappearing again. Residents know they are...
By Ioan Grillo
October 18, 2019
The Migrant Caravan as Political Bandwagon
A thousand miles south of the Rio Grande, Lesly Xiomara Chirinos plodded along a Mexican road comforting her year-old son Murphy, her partner holding up an umbrella to shield them from the punishing sun. On...
By Ioan Grillo/Huehuetán, Mexico
November 1, 2018
'We Won't Be Broken.' Migrant Caravan Sets Sights on U.S.
"We have shown we are not scared"
By Ioan Grillo / Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico
October 21, 2018
Mexico's Leftists Celebrate Victory
The festivities on Sunday night were the culmination of a 30-year struggle by the Mexican left to win the presidency
By Ioan Grillo/Mexico City
July 2, 2018
The Populist of the Pueblos Gets Ready to Shake Up Mexico
When he played baseball in this steamy village where he grew up, the teenage Andrés Manuel López Obrador was known by his teammates as El Molido, or the Grinder, and is remembered for his ability...
By Ioan Grillo
June 29, 2018
Why Refugees Will Keep Coming to the U.S. Despite Trump's Crackdown
For thousands in the Northern Triangle of Central America, there is no easy choice
By Ioan Grillo/Tenosique
June 21, 2018
Where the Legend of El Chapo Was Born
As Joaquín Guzmán finally faces justice, America's war on drugs is also on the defense
By Ioan Grillo
May 10, 2018
Inside the Trial of Joaquin 'El Chapo’ Guzman, the World’s Most Infamous Drug Baron
When Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was born in the rugged village of La Tuna in Mexico’s Sierra Madre mountains in 1957, the houses were made of mud, there was no electricity or running water and...
By Ioan Grillo
May 10, 2018
His Mexico City Apartment Block Was Built Only Months Ago. So Why Did It Collapse So Easily?
Tuesday's 7.1 magnitude quake in Mexico sheds light on shoddily built new build apartments in the capital
By Ioan Grillo / Mexico City
September 23, 2017
225 Killed As Earthquake Rocks Mexico City
A first-hand account of the destruction
By Ioan Grillo / Mexico City
September 20, 2017
A TV Show About 'El Chapo' Guzman Is a Univision Hit, and It's Coming to Netflix
On May 5, Mexico’s most infamous drug trafficker sat in a blue jailhouse overall in a New York court, his beauty queen wife waving from the public seats. Presiding Judge Brian Cogan faced Joaquin “El...
By Ioan Grillo / Mexico City
May 19, 2017
How Trump's Deportation Crackdown Could Sink El Salvador
Outside El Salvador’s international airport, families gather by a guard post to see their loved ones who have been deported by plane from the United States. Wearing a straw hat in the blazing sun, Elsa...
By Ioan Grillo / San Salvador
February 23, 2017
Mexicans Launch Boycotts in Fury at Trump
The digital image shows a clenched fist bathed in the red, white and green of Mexico’s flag and decorated with the nation’s emblematic eagle. “Consumers, to the Shout of War,” it says in Spanish above...
By Ioan Grillo / Mexico City
January 27, 2017
Mexico Braces Itself for Donald Trump's Presidency
The President-elect has said he'll scrap NAFTA, deport millions, and build a wall. How should Mexico react?
By Ioan Grillo / Toluca, Mexico
January 10, 2017
Mexico Wakes Up to President-Elect Trump Next Door
Trump has promised to build a wall on the border and deport undocumented immigrants
By Ioan Grillo/Mexico City
November 9, 2016
Peña Nieto’s Meeting With Donald Trump Angers Mexicans
Discontent over the meeting has been voiced by Mexicans across the spectrum
By Ioan Grillo / Mexico City
August 31, 2016
Requiem for Venezuela
How the nation with more oil than anywhere else in the world fell apart
By Ioan Grillo / Caracas
August 11, 2016
'The Country Is Sinking': A Q&A With Venezuelan Opposition Leader Henrique Capriles
'I fear there will be an explosion in Venezuela and it will finish collapsing'
By Ioan Grillo/Caracas and Jorge Benezra/Caracas
June 16, 2016
Inside the Hell of Venezuelan Police Prisons
20,000 inmates are being kept in prisons designed for just 5,000
By Ioan Grillo/Caracas and Jorge Benezra/Caracas
June 8, 2016
Venezuela's Murder Epidemic Rages On Amid Protests
Meeting the killers of Caracas as opposition to President Nicolas Maduro brings Venezuela to the brink
By Ioan Grillo / Caracas and Jorge Benezra / Caracas
May 20, 2016
Mexico's Missing Students: 'Case Not Closed'
An independent panel of experts has pulled apart official accounts in a new, 608-page document
By Ioan Grillo / Mexico City
April 25, 2016
How Howard Marks Helped Revolutionize the Drug Trade
After "Mr Nice" came a generation of less personable drug lords
By Ioan Grillo / Mexico City
April 12, 2016
Pope's Visit to Mexico Highlights Church's Drug War Woes
The Catholic Church has been criticized for doing too little to fight murderous cartels in Mexico. Will Pope Francis change that?
By Ioan Grillo/Mexico City
February 11, 2016
Meet the New Gangster Warlords of Latin America
The journalist Ioan Grillo goes inside the hyper-violent drug cartels of Latin America in an except from his new book Gangster Warlords
By Ioan Grillo
January 19, 2016
The Arrest of 'El Chapo' Isn't the Victory it Looks Like
What’s behind the drug lord’s capture
By Ioan Grillo / Mexico City
January 14, 2016
The Actor, the Kingpin, and Mexico's Drug War as Entertainment
The war between narcos has inspired books, movies, TV shows and more
By Ioan Grillo
January 10, 2016
How Mexico Caught 'El Chapo'
Meet the elite force that managed to recapture Mexico's most-notorious narco
By Ioan Grillo / Mexico City
January 8, 2016
How the Mexican Drug Trade First Began
In light of the news that El Chapo has been recaptured, learn about the early days of the Mexican drug trade in this excerpt from Ioan Grillo's book
El Narco
By Ioan Grillo
January 8, 2016
Venezuela Celebrates After the Defeat of 'Chavismo'
Venezuela's opposition won control of the National Assembly by a landslide, with 99 out of 167 seats
By Ioan Grillo / Caracas
December 7, 2015
Hyperinflation Crisis Could Change Venezuelan Politics
Terrible hyperinflation is ruining the country's economy, and could mean the end of Chavizista socialism in upcoming elections
By Ioan Grillo/Caracas
December 3, 2015
The Secret Life of One of the Richest Men in the World
Carlos Slim was the richest man in the world between 2010 and 2013
By Ioan Grillo / Mexico City
December 2, 2015
Cartel Violence Threatens Relative Peace of Mexico City
The murder rate is the highest it has been since 1987
By Ioan Grillo / Mexico City
November 6, 2015
Mexico's Marijuana Ruling Shakes Up Drug Policy
A new court ruling could have big implications on the drug war
By Ioan Grillo / Mexico City
November 4, 2015
Sicarios: The Story Behind the Cartel Killers
While the word "sicario" is relatively new to the English language, the new generation of cartel hit men had a massive impact on the drug business and murder rate in Colombia and Mexico. Sicarios were...
By Ioan Grillo and Anne Most
October 26, 2015
Meet the Real Sicarios Who Kill All Over the Americas
They raised drug murders to a new level of violence and organization
By Ioan Grillo / Mexico City
October 15, 2015
Mexicans Begin to Slim With the Help of the Soda Tax
Taxing sodas has led to a cut in sales
By Ioan Grillo / Mexico City
October 12, 2015
Mexicans Say
Sicario
Hurts Country's Image
Some towns that were blighted by violence have seen a massive fall in murders
By Ioan Grillo / Mexico City
October 9, 2015
The Rise of Donald Trump Sparks Anger and Laughter in Mexico
Mexicans don't know whether to fear or ignore Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric
By Ioan Grillo / Mexico City
August 22, 2015
El Salvador’s Kill Zone
Warring gangs have turned the country into one of the world’s deadliest places
By Ioan Grillo
July 23, 2015
Mexicans Celebrate El Chapo's Escape in Song
“It seems there are no bars, that he cannot open, the power of Chapo, and Sinaloa his roots, the most powerful cartel, nobody can combat it”
By Ioan Grillo / Mexico City
July 14, 2015
Mexico Shamed by Drug Lord's 'Unforgivable' Escape
Capturing "Chapo" Guzmán was President Peña Nieto's great success; letting him escape is his great failure
By Ioan Grillo / Mexico City
July 13, 2015
Meet the First Woman to Lead a Mexican Drugs Cartel
The men of the Arellano Felix clan are dead or in jail so officials believe Enedina Arellano-Felix has taken over
By Ioan Grillo / Mexico City
July 7, 2015
Inside Mexico's Uber Wars
Taxi drivers have attacked their online rivals and smashed their cars
By Ioan Grillo / Mexico City
June 10, 2015
Mexican Cartels Invent Ingenious Weapons to Help Battle Government
The drug gangs have no end of guns but are forced to invent weapons that could be in the
A Team
or
Mad Max
By Ioan Grillo / Mexico City
April 29, 2015
Legal Pot in U.S. Hits Mexican Cartels' Cross-Border Trade
The cartels are still smuggling harder drugs but advocates point out the success of legalization in cutting illegal trade
By Ioan Grillo/Mexico City
April 8, 2015
Mexico’s Brutal Nightmare
How an attack on 43 students in September has forced the country to once again confront the scourge of drug violence
By Ioan Grillo/Iguala
November 13, 2014
Mexico’s Nightmare
How the disappearance of 43 students in September has forced the country to once again confront the scourge of drug violence
By Ioan Grillo / Iguala
November 6, 2014
The Apparent Massacre of Dozens of Students Exposes the Corruption at the Heart of Mexico
The disappearance and presumed killings of scores of students has led to protests against the Mexican government—and drug cartels
By Ioan Grillo / Iguala
October 10, 2014
Honduras’s Desperate Voyagers
Children are leaving by the thousands and heading north. Fear of gangs and the promise of prosperity have created a refugee crisis for Barack Obama
By Ioan Grillo
July 31, 2014
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