The Rise of Makaveli Interview on the Gulf and Zetas

The Interview (via e-mail)

RiseMakaveli is a person who lives in Mexico and is in the middle of the waging war of the two cartels, as are many people living in the border towns of Mexico. Because of his geographical location, RiseMakaveli has personal knowledge and has known some of the principles. He is not involved in any drug cartel activity (as far as we know) but has known some of them as a matter of living among them. He has a vast knowledge of what is going on, almost like an insider look of what is happening.

Because of his present situation and we that follow these matters know that these things can be dangerous, he has chosen to remain anonymous to protect himself and his family.

Borderland: How have the people (el puebo) mamanged to interact with the Gulf cartel?

RiseMakaveli: At first, people were skeptical.. People did not know if it really was for the better, but so far, it seems like the CDG has been doing a good job at earning the peoples trust and respect…

You see, it’s hard to believe that this war will end anytime soon. The plague of Los Zetas has pretty much injected itself into the very arteries of Mexico.. These guys are everywhere, politics, small businesses, restaurants, newspapers, media..

Literally, Zetas are cops. It used to be that you got stopped by city police and some of them were bought by the group, but others where legit but still had to respect their “commandante” who was and always has been bought by los Zetas…

But now it’s not like that, the Zetas where the cops.. And I speak in past tense because now with the CDG things will have to change, that is why cops are ending up dead all over the place.. All of them, literally.. As scary as it may sound, it was true..

Cops where actually doing the kidnappings.. I don’t know if you saw this video of a guy that was scared shitless by some cops in I think it was NL, not sure don’t remember but here is the link

Ok, now we do have to admit, this video is sort of funny… But at the same time scary, because it’s true.. You can’t trust cops.. I mean you get stop, and if you got the right Codigo, they’ll just let you go.. See for a long time the way things have worked is this way..

If you where someone high in society and you paid for protection, or someone involved in the drug trafficking or whatever, you paid a fee for x amount of time and they would give you your own personal CODIGO (CODE).. They would issue you this special password, and whoever stopped you had to let you go, or they would have penalties for withholding you.. The officers and Zetas kept a list, updated daily of Codes..

See, it was all commercialized in a way… You have to understand one thing, these are people who were born into this life, they were born in a society which did not provide them with as many freebies as the one we are in now.. People who live here in the US are blessed..

Yes we do have a lot of poverty and crime as well, but there is no comparison.. Here, in the US, a lot of people who are broke, is simply due to the fact that they don’t want to work.. I mean Ociel Cardenas before he became what he was, he used to work as a mechanic and wash cars in Matamoros..

And I’ve met people who would always say, “oh he thinks he’s all that, he used to wash my car in the old days”.. And I would remind them “ yeah but he made millions, and you’re still working in the same old deadbeat job”…

I mean, it’s not trying to make him seem like he’s all that, my point is that a lot of these guys are involved in that business simply because they had no choice… Of course that does not include all of them, but a good amount of them are…

Borderland: Did they accept them at first? How about now?

RiseMakaveli: See, after all this shit, and this years of torture and basically unfairness that people here in Tamaulipas have endured, right now.. It’s basically like they see the Cartel trucks rolling in with CDG on their back window, and it’s like..

Ok, what now.. Everyone minds their own business, I mean, it was at the point that if you saw a brand new truck on the street, didn’t matter if the truck was driving on the other side of the street, or if the truck was cutting you off or not stopping at red lights, but everyone knew “ohh ohh keep to yourselfe, those guys are probably running with someone else”.. and a lot of the time it was true man, I mean you honked at somebody who thought they were the shit and they had no respect for civilian people they would rush out their truck and either scare the shit out of you at gun point, or literally you’d be in for a beating.. If not worse…

Clear example, you have a puppy who you want to learn to stay in this box.. He always runs out, and is all playful and doesn’t listen to you..

Sure I mean it’s a puppy, it will keep doing the same thing over and over.. But what happens if every time he leaves the box you beat him in the head with a 2x4..

Eventually he will learn the hard way not to leave the box or he will get hit.. That’s basically what happened to a lot of people here.. They lost their own will to fight, they just live life as it is, and a lot of them believe the saying, “if you can’t beat them, join them”…

Up to right now, the CDG came in with the right set of mind.. Supposedly, protecting the citizens, by eradicating the “Sicarios Zetas!”.. It’s all good business, it’s good marketing.. It’s good campaigning.. You think the CDG cares for the people? The fuck they do! They don’t give a shit..

But they have strong people thinking this shit through.. They couldn’t care a rats ass about the people.. Back in the day, what did Ociel do while he was locked up? He paid for a party of over 2000 people on the street and got gifts for the children who couldn’t afford it.. What was that? Good heart? From a guy who killed his friend to take over his business?

You have to always remember this.. It is all GOOD BUSINESS.. that is all it is..

Those who will prevail will be those who think above the league.. You have to stop thinking small time, and start seeing the big picture.. You can’t take the government full on, but the government can’t take on their citizens.. Win the people, and you got it made..

The army won’t be able to do shit.. Bottom line, so far the CDG is doing a good job, keeping the killing to minimum, trying to sell the image that they are here to save us all, and free us from the KILLERS ZETAS, who for some reason, everyone seems to forget, THEY CREATED THEM…

Borderland: How are the typical Sicarios for the Gulf or Zetas? Is it the lower class or the middle class? What about the ones that are getting killed, are they from the region?

RiseMakaveli: I know, I refer to “IT USED TO BE” a lot.. But it’s just the way that I feel… It used to be, Zetas where Loyal people, killers.. But everyone admired them because they protected the boss man, putting their life in danger, and giving their life for him in a seconds hesitation.. It used to be that you would recognize a Zeta a mile away.. I remember they would all dress in black jeans, black dress shirt and they where all very cautious..

Somewhere along the line everything went to hell.. They started hiring drug addicts of the streets, strapping them with an AK, sending them to a boot camp of a couple of days/weeks and put em on the street to handle business.. That’s when it all turned from Zetas being Elite, to Zetas being “PIEDREROS”,… Zetas slowly went losing the respect of the people, afterwards, you would see people all trashy, not even dressing right, in work pants, shoes untied strapped with a radio in hand, and he was a Zeta, hahaha..

Somewhere along the way, they got desperate and started to hire people on street corners, who drank all fucking day and got fucked up.. How can someone like that be able to handle business? They didn’t.. That’s why shit got stirred.. Years ago, you would get in trouble and you’d get stopped.. Either police or guardias and depending on the magnitude of what you did, you’d either get a smack in the head with a gun, or end up falling asleep with sour asscheeks (they carried wood sticks in their trucks to smack the shit out of you!)

That’s all, and before if they wanted to do something, it was all called in.. They’d have you kneed in front of them, and asking you questions.. Who are you.. Who are you allied with.. This, that.. And call it in and confirm.. Basically ask permission to either hit you or kill you.. Or just let you go..

Now a days, man, you meet the wrong people on the street and you get shot, instantly.. Of course this is not all the time, there’s still some sort of restrain in some people, but not all..

Borderland: Who are the main player currently in the Gulf and Zetas. What is the current status of the Zetas? Have they been put out of comission? I see their leadership is pretty much intact!

RiseMakaveli: Well, as to the leadership.. It’s pretty much the same, Z40 and Lazcano.. I have not known of any updates with that, but none of them have been caught or killed.. because be sure of one thing.. Once either of them gets killed or captured, they will blow it up on TV..

I’m pretty sure that maybe even the Zetas will make sure that the media finds out.. Because it will be a major blow to the company…

Now as much as being out of commission, no, they’re not. I mean they have been hit hard and lost some business but they still control major points in Tamaulipas.. Only difference is that now everything is falling on them, but they still evade and continue, believe that..

I repeat, they are not just some cockroaches as many people wish to people, they are pretty much a part of the system now.. Either people like it or not…

Borderland: What place has the more activity currently in your region and what do you see happening here in the next few years? Will they ever get rid of the cartel or will they just realign and change method of opeations?

RiseMakaveli: It’s hard to actually foresee what will happen in years to come, but one thing is for sure.. This will not end soon, and I guarantee you man, almost as if it was written on stone.. Either both, or one of them will get crucified.. This will not end without somebody taking a major hit, and making it seem like it’s over.. Either Lazcano or Z40, or both.. Are going to get crucified.. Bad..

People will no longer let this slide, even if the majority of the people know the truth, the media will make it seem like they killed the dragon.. Why? Because they are in too deep.. It’s public now… They made it public that it is MEXICO VS LOS ZETAS.. They are pinning everything bad on them, which is not true..

A lot of the murders that happened where under the orders, or it’s wrong to say orders, more like, it was under the contract from CDG.. A lot of the beheadings, fucking bloody massacres where under jobs the Zetas got from CDG.. Or from personal friends of theirs..

See, it is not a fight against drugs.. It is a fight against the image they have created on The Zetas.. Too bad they turned into the escape goat.. Not to say they don’t deserve it, they do for being no fucking morale having motherfuckers..

But it’s not all the blame on them…