Mexican Drug Cartels Meme on YouTube?

Two weeks ago, a staff member uploaded a memorial tribute to K-Paz de la Sierra singer Sergio Gomez. I had no idea who he was, and his music sounded a little like Mexican polka; however, after that day, thousands of fans clicked onto the page to leave messages for the Grupero singer.

Grupero, a country style of Mexican music which originated from drug cartel-ridden Mexican bordertowns, is often characterized by narcocorrido ballads about drug culture. Over 2000 individuals have been killed in recent years in what can only be described as a bloody war in north eastern Mexico's "Gulf Cartel" - with its private army Los Zetas, led by Osiel Cardenas, and traffickers based in the western state of Sinaloa headed by Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman.

Singer Valentin Elizalde, also known as the Golden Rooster, was killed in November 2006 after his song "A mis Enemigos" or "To My Enemies", was taken up as an anthem by the Sinaloa cartel. It is believed that the rival Zetas saw this song as a direct attack on them.

A MIS ENEMIGOS

You would never know that this song is a part of a bitter online rivalry between drug cartels. I had the bad fortune to type "A mis Enemigos" into YouTube to find that at least half of the videos posted were actual still shots of drug-related murder scenes. Despite the fact that the whole gross-out goatse/two girls one cup/tubgirl thing has been around for a while, I found these videos grotesque in a different way.

Being Canadian I had no idea that the chorus of this song translates to "To my enemies, I killed them". An article I found in Reuters from Feb 2007 goes on to state that one video of a man being shot in the head had over 200,000 views and that the videos are being used by the drug factions to taunt each other:

In one YouTube post, a user offers about $4,500 to anyone who can show proof of having killed members of The Zetas, "via photo, video or presenting the body."...Mexican police are monitoring the site.

12 Grupero musicians have been killed in addition to Valentin Elizalde, including Sergio Gomez and Zayda Peña. Although Peña was best known for her love ballads, she did perform one song, "Tiro de Gracia", or "Coup de Grace" which conflicting reports speculate have to do with a style of execution where the victim is shot in the head. Peña, 28, was first shot on Friday November 30, 2007 in the back at a motel and was rushed to emergency. While in emergency she was shot in the head and killed by another assailant who is believed to have abandoned a car nearby. Police still do not have a suspect in custody.

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Mexican Drug Cartels Meme on YouTube?

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