We wuz robbed!

Sticky fingered United States Postal Service workers apparently made off with sixteen copies of Gods, Gachupines and Gringos sometime in the last two weeks.  Amazon.com told us they FINALLY received — not the case they ordered from my publisher’s Albuquerque warehouse — the obviously opened and emptied top.  Oh well, as Amazon.com’s web site says, “Order now and we’ll deliver when available.”

Speaking of which, a gringo walked off with a copy of the Moon Guide to Puerto Vallarta from the shop here.  I wouldn’t have noticed, but it was my book.  As in I owned it, not that I wrote it (although I did have three copies, by way of thanks from the truly excellent Robin Noelle, who I was happy to oblige with some “back page” updates on recent Mexican politics and history).  Geeze, it’s marked down at Amazon right now — we’d have to charge full retail, in pesos plus the shipping costs.  By the way, for the sticky-fingered gringos, I recommend viewing this video to get a feel for the way shoplifters are treated in Latin America — we make you come clean BEFORE the legal process even starts.

And… not affecting me personally… but there were two conflicting stories run in Raw Story yesterday about the 160 million dollar “fine” paid by Wachovia Bank to the U.S. government for failure to stop money laundering.  The Agence France-Presse article says the bank failed to stop money going TO Mexico, while the Associated Press says it was money coming FROM Mexico.

I know possession is nine-tenths of the law and all that, but if the money was earned by Mexican ah, um, entrepreneurs, if it’s illegal booty, it should be Mexico’s money.  If the money was coming FROM Mexico, shouldn’t it be returned to sender?

I’m more intrigued and frankly worried by the idea that the money was coming FROM Mexican casas de cambio.  One would think, given the alleged value of narcotics sales coming from this country, that — even with seizures — the country would be awash in cash.  It’s not (and Sinaloa certainly isn’t).  Oh, the gangsters can afford bribes and armored Humvees and plenty of weaponry, but those are just legitimate business expenses for an illegitimate business.    That wouldn’t account for all the money said to be coming in, and the seizure doesn’t amount to more than 0.00016 percent of Chapo Guzman’s estimated wealth.

Possibilities:   the narcotics trade is propping up a lot more of the U.S. economy than anyone wants to admit (probably true) or the way we calculate the profits is totally skewed (also probably true).  Or, the gringos will try to get away with anything when they’re dealing with Mexicans.  Definitely true.