Fantastic is the word that I will describe this interview with Krame. Other superlatives are well needed here also. His life and career re intoxicating to me and I do have a high tolerance for intoxicants. I have only watched up to the point of the introduction of AI in the strategies of the cartels. I feel like I am privy to a classified briefing with this video. Karme describes things very "inside baseball" if you will. The absence of the Army and Navy during the Reynosa prison matter, if described accurately, leads me to believe there was a great orchestration of high level people in the entire affair. Tamaulipas, my touchstone in Mexico, is given the level of discussion that it deserves. There is a framework from the Zeta/Gulf Cartel problems still being used today on the ground. Chapitos v. their former partners and the overall conflicts of CJNG v. everyone else today, uses blueprints from the Zeta/Gulf Cartel history. The rest of the video tomorrow for me. I am just digesting the first half. Definitely deserving of the critique Boom!
Boom back at yer. Yeah, you can really feel that scene with a full on prison riot and the officials won't even answer their phones. I would say the convo only gets more juicy as it goes on - indeed, a fascinating guest. Best there Gregorio
I doubt anyone is wishing for American boots on the ground especially with their massive military disaster in Iran, showing that US military technology and strategy is so antiquated and has never faced the reality of drones and missiles and how it has completely changed modern warfare especially with the development of hypersonic missiles which the US does not have. The perfect video example of this change is to watch the war videos from the Russia/Ukraine war. It is brutal. No large massing of soldiers and equipment in one area. Soldiers are reduced to small teams of 2 or three soldiers to avoid the drones and Russia launches 700-900 drones at once with missiles in a swarm attack that makes it almost impossible to defend against. The Iranians are responsible for the drone technology with Russian and Chinese embellishments.
As far as drone warfare in Mexico it is practically back in the stone age development and is nowhere near any type of drone warfare you see now. The most effective drone strategy is a swarm strategy with large number of drones attacking with missiles thrown in either launched or the use of manpads which is a shoulder mounted anti-aircraft missile. Now imagine cartels battling helicopters, aircraft and armor vehicles with a large number of drones backed up with the firing of shoulder mounted anti-aircraft missiles. It would be very difficult to defend yourself being overwhelmed by the huge number of drones and missiles in-between the drones. The Chinese have just sent to Iran updated manpads with more accurate software. Hezbollah is an excellent example of an army that has constantly updated it's tactics and equipment due to Iranian technology and instruction. Israel lost over 200 tanks just by adhering to old World War 2 tactics.
I do read Krame's substack and his article on how to dismantle a narco state is just as static as the US and Mexico's answers to illegal drugs. Talking about the benefits of asset forfeiture and the money that could be confiscated and doing nothing about severely restricting and policing banking activity with auditors and law enforcement inside the banks and the jailing of banking officials is the same old tired tactics especially if you are not going to advocate a curtailment of foreign transfers of money. The framework of neo-liberalism's so-called democracy is devoid of answers because of it's own corruption and blindness to any radical alternatives. Guantanamo is there waiting for these pillars of liberal economic society, the bankers, who deserve being thrown in this prison pit and the keys thrown away.
Another comprehensive intervention there, as always! On the topic specifically of drone warfare you lay out well, I think a very real and worrying feature of the violence in Mexico is as a laboratory of post modern warfare, how armed groups battle and take territory as a dual power and the vast death toll can keep churning out amid functional capitalism and elections still happening. Whether there are bigger players wanting this or it just emerged organically, it's happening, and I wonder if it will play out more in other places...
I do not think Mexico will become a laboratory of post modern warfare as long as the Russian/Ukraine war continues and the US remains involved in the Middle East and Africa Right now the US is involved in supporting the jihadi attacks on the Mali government which is supported effectively by Russia. Mexico could become a testing ground if the US decides to retool it's defense industry but the industry is so corrupted and will resist every effort to streamline it's production. Also any retooling of the US defense capabilities is restricted by its reliance on foreign factories and necessary resources which come from China.
Critics of the Morena party seem to be aligning themselves with the Marco Rubio design of political and economic power which will be a path to Mexico becoming a cauldron of the new warfare. Also if cartels start thinking about themselves more as a political and economic alternative to the Mexican state, then they might think about protecting their interests further with updated military technology and strategy. Hezbollah and Iran could become their real mentors if the cartels represent themselves as a victim of American imperialism. Ukraine is totally corrupt and unreliable. The real tragedy for Mexico was the deal that Iran accepted two days before the Feb. 28th attack by the US., would have provided incentives for Iran to focus internally on their country and peaceful development without sanctions.
This is an interesting one - "if cartels start thinking about themselves more as a political and economic alternative to the Mexican state" - It's hard to see how things will evolve and this is possible. However, they do well out of being in the bloody grey place of paramilitary organized crime. If they were to become more overtly political it would also push them into having to be more responsive to people in areas where they have power...
It involves more of the cartels thinking of protecting territory and organizing that territory first into a military defense sector and internationally proclaiming their political victimhood and trying to search for weapons and training. Because they are so armed now, being responsive to people in the short run is secondary. If the cartels continue with a criminal mindset then their options are limited and this continuing violence and the corruption it creates continues.
Ioan: interesting interview. The one question I have for Krame is the following: towards the end of the interview he says that: "for 6 administrations (36 years) Mexico has been unable to sort out the issue of drug trafficking ..................that all Mexico is capable of doing is manage the war against drugs. Well, Mr.Krame, is the US capable of taking on the cartels by themselves? The DEA has been managing the cartels for the last 50 years-----have we seen any improvement in the situation in the US? Drugs are cheaper and more plentiful than ever !!! If the Gringos haven't had any success why do you criticize Sheinbaum for what she is trying to do?
Krame gives a sense of surrender in all this. Not surrender to the cartels or the criminals but the institution of corruption in Mexico leads to the government surrendering at all levels because of this corruption. He states that there are techniques and equipment available to thwart the use of criminal drones however the lack of training and study and a world view to use these opportunities is missing. The technology seems not to be wasted by the criminals but wasted by the government's use of it. Definitely behind the times are the crime fighters while the criminals are on the cutting edge. These technologies, given corruption, can never be fully utilized.
Fantastic interview, Ioan. This guy is a national treasure and needs to be protected at all costs. He's got a ton of great points about a wide variety of topics -- with insider knowledge. He brings the receipts.
I think he's right about the MEXTCOs on the verge of becoming the dominant irregular air power (my words) in the Western hemisphere; they simply need to choose to spend their money that war. They have more than enough access to facilities and financial leverage to retool some maquiladora manufacturing capacity into combat quad-copters and RC airplanes. And, if they are smart, they can take advantage of he US's recent ban on Chinese manufactured drones (DJI, etc.) and create a massive commercial niche for themselves in the North American done market.
He knows the people and agencies who are relevant to the MEXGOV counter-cartel fight. And he calls out AMLO and Sheinbaum (timestamp = 41:53) for anti-Western/anti-American propaganda and sentiments. That tells us everything we need to know about MORENA.
I so love pics of people’s bookshelves. It tells you so much about that person, their thoughts & beliefs.
Yeah, I love a bookshelf. One of my favorite pieces of furniture. All best and thanks for tuning in Aurelie.
Fantastic is the word that I will describe this interview with Krame. Other superlatives are well needed here also. His life and career re intoxicating to me and I do have a high tolerance for intoxicants. I have only watched up to the point of the introduction of AI in the strategies of the cartels. I feel like I am privy to a classified briefing with this video. Karme describes things very "inside baseball" if you will. The absence of the Army and Navy during the Reynosa prison matter, if described accurately, leads me to believe there was a great orchestration of high level people in the entire affair. Tamaulipas, my touchstone in Mexico, is given the level of discussion that it deserves. There is a framework from the Zeta/Gulf Cartel problems still being used today on the ground. Chapitos v. their former partners and the overall conflicts of CJNG v. everyone else today, uses blueprints from the Zeta/Gulf Cartel history. The rest of the video tomorrow for me. I am just digesting the first half. Definitely deserving of the critique Boom!
Boom back at yer. Yeah, you can really feel that scene with a full on prison riot and the officials won't even answer their phones. I would say the convo only gets more juicy as it goes on - indeed, a fascinating guest. Best there Gregorio
I second your sense of conspiracy with the prison deal.
I doubt anyone is wishing for American boots on the ground especially with their massive military disaster in Iran, showing that US military technology and strategy is so antiquated and has never faced the reality of drones and missiles and how it has completely changed modern warfare especially with the development of hypersonic missiles which the US does not have. The perfect video example of this change is to watch the war videos from the Russia/Ukraine war. It is brutal. No large massing of soldiers and equipment in one area. Soldiers are reduced to small teams of 2 or three soldiers to avoid the drones and Russia launches 700-900 drones at once with missiles in a swarm attack that makes it almost impossible to defend against. The Iranians are responsible for the drone technology with Russian and Chinese embellishments.
As far as drone warfare in Mexico it is practically back in the stone age development and is nowhere near any type of drone warfare you see now. The most effective drone strategy is a swarm strategy with large number of drones attacking with missiles thrown in either launched or the use of manpads which is a shoulder mounted anti-aircraft missile. Now imagine cartels battling helicopters, aircraft and armor vehicles with a large number of drones backed up with the firing of shoulder mounted anti-aircraft missiles. It would be very difficult to defend yourself being overwhelmed by the huge number of drones and missiles in-between the drones. The Chinese have just sent to Iran updated manpads with more accurate software. Hezbollah is an excellent example of an army that has constantly updated it's tactics and equipment due to Iranian technology and instruction. Israel lost over 200 tanks just by adhering to old World War 2 tactics.
I do read Krame's substack and his article on how to dismantle a narco state is just as static as the US and Mexico's answers to illegal drugs. Talking about the benefits of asset forfeiture and the money that could be confiscated and doing nothing about severely restricting and policing banking activity with auditors and law enforcement inside the banks and the jailing of banking officials is the same old tired tactics especially if you are not going to advocate a curtailment of foreign transfers of money. The framework of neo-liberalism's so-called democracy is devoid of answers because of it's own corruption and blindness to any radical alternatives. Guantanamo is there waiting for these pillars of liberal economic society, the bankers, who deserve being thrown in this prison pit and the keys thrown away.
Another comprehensive intervention there, as always! On the topic specifically of drone warfare you lay out well, I think a very real and worrying feature of the violence in Mexico is as a laboratory of post modern warfare, how armed groups battle and take territory as a dual power and the vast death toll can keep churning out amid functional capitalism and elections still happening. Whether there are bigger players wanting this or it just emerged organically, it's happening, and I wonder if it will play out more in other places...
I do not think Mexico will become a laboratory of post modern warfare as long as the Russian/Ukraine war continues and the US remains involved in the Middle East and Africa Right now the US is involved in supporting the jihadi attacks on the Mali government which is supported effectively by Russia. Mexico could become a testing ground if the US decides to retool it's defense industry but the industry is so corrupted and will resist every effort to streamline it's production. Also any retooling of the US defense capabilities is restricted by its reliance on foreign factories and necessary resources which come from China.
Critics of the Morena party seem to be aligning themselves with the Marco Rubio design of political and economic power which will be a path to Mexico becoming a cauldron of the new warfare. Also if cartels start thinking about themselves more as a political and economic alternative to the Mexican state, then they might think about protecting their interests further with updated military technology and strategy. Hezbollah and Iran could become their real mentors if the cartels represent themselves as a victim of American imperialism. Ukraine is totally corrupt and unreliable. The real tragedy for Mexico was the deal that Iran accepted two days before the Feb. 28th attack by the US., would have provided incentives for Iran to focus internally on their country and peaceful development without sanctions.
This is an interesting one - "if cartels start thinking about themselves more as a political and economic alternative to the Mexican state" - It's hard to see how things will evolve and this is possible. However, they do well out of being in the bloody grey place of paramilitary organized crime. If they were to become more overtly political it would also push them into having to be more responsive to people in areas where they have power...
It involves more of the cartels thinking of protecting territory and organizing that territory first into a military defense sector and internationally proclaiming their political victimhood and trying to search for weapons and training. Because they are so armed now, being responsive to people in the short run is secondary. If the cartels continue with a criminal mindset then their options are limited and this continuing violence and the corruption it creates continues.
Ioan: interesting interview. The one question I have for Krame is the following: towards the end of the interview he says that: "for 6 administrations (36 years) Mexico has been unable to sort out the issue of drug trafficking ..................that all Mexico is capable of doing is manage the war against drugs. Well, Mr.Krame, is the US capable of taking on the cartels by themselves? The DEA has been managing the cartels for the last 50 years-----have we seen any improvement in the situation in the US? Drugs are cheaper and more plentiful than ever !!! If the Gringos haven't had any success why do you criticize Sheinbaum for what she is trying to do?
Yep, what is the US strategy on drugs and cartels? It could sure do with one…Thankd and best there Keoki.
Krame is a Mexican insider and has all the right to criticize MEXGOV -- more than anyone else as it sounds like he's got the receipts.
Krame gives a sense of surrender in all this. Not surrender to the cartels or the criminals but the institution of corruption in Mexico leads to the government surrendering at all levels because of this corruption. He states that there are techniques and equipment available to thwart the use of criminal drones however the lack of training and study and a world view to use these opportunities is missing. The technology seems not to be wasted by the criminals but wasted by the government's use of it. Definitely behind the times are the crime fighters while the criminals are on the cutting edge. These technologies, given corruption, can never be fully utilized.
I am curious if Karme is still living in Mexico given his vocal alarms.
He left and returned.
Yes sir, let’s catch up soon! Take care! Saludos!!
All the best to you my good friend! Love reading your stuff! You have the pulse of things!
Well appreciated and we need to catch up again some time. Have a great one.
Outstanding!
It’s a goodun. All best there Mike!
Fantastic interview, Ioan. This guy is a national treasure and needs to be protected at all costs. He's got a ton of great points about a wide variety of topics -- with insider knowledge. He brings the receipts.
I think he's right about the MEXTCOs on the verge of becoming the dominant irregular air power (my words) in the Western hemisphere; they simply need to choose to spend their money that war. They have more than enough access to facilities and financial leverage to retool some maquiladora manufacturing capacity into combat quad-copters and RC airplanes. And, if they are smart, they can take advantage of he US's recent ban on Chinese manufactured drones (DJI, etc.) and create a massive commercial niche for themselves in the North American done market.
He knows the people and agencies who are relevant to the MEXGOV counter-cartel fight. And he calls out AMLO and Sheinbaum (timestamp = 41:53) for anti-Western/anti-American propaganda and sentiments. That tells us everything we need to know about MORENA.
Well, done Ioan.