As you know, the Mexican government has acknowledged that it was Kate del Castillo’s infatuation with El Chapo Guzmán and ultimately Sean Penn’s trek to meet with the drug kingpin that ultimately led to his capture. As we have been exploring on my blog recently, Guzmán is on track to be extradited to the United States. This is his worst fear turning into reality. Sean Penn has taken the tact that he has “nothing to hide” and Castillo has been mostly silent about the whole escapade.
News media pundits have been highly critical about Sean Penn’s article in Rolling Stones Magazine. The fact is that the critical news media is just the dying breath of an industry that is on its death bed. The archaic news delivery by pre-canned and pre-screened vehicles is long past its prime. News consumers expect their news as quickly and as unfiltered as possible. The news consumers want to be the ones to decide what is worthy of their time. Old-style news media made the decision for the consumers because the consumers did not have any other alternatives. The Internet has changed that. It has made news people out of everyone, including Sean Penn.
Sean Penn’s piece is the result of his connections and Chapo’s attempt to bed a television star. That is the unfiltered truth.
As you might have heard, the Mexican government released text messages it intercepted between Kate del Castillo, an attorney and Chapo Guzmán. Anyone reading the text messages can clearly see that Chapo’s only interested was to seduce Castillo. Add to that the latest information released by the Mexican government announcing that Chapo had penile implants soon after he began to dream about Kate del Castillo and you can clearly see how infatuated he was. The movie ploy was just a means to get her into bed.
Unfortunately, Chapo’s infatuation led him directly to jail.
Regardless, Penn’s piece gave us a new perspective to the Joaquín Guzmán persona. Was it news? Yes, because it gave us new information that we did not have before. Would I have handled it like Sean Penn did? No, for the simple reason that I would not have agreed to meet with a criminal that was running from the law, especially one as violent and notorious as Chapo.
Of course now the question some individuals are asking is whether Sean Penn should be worried. I’m sure it is also on the back of Penn’s mind as well.
Forget the news media pundits frenzy, they are just jealous that they got scooped by an actor. The problem for Penn and Kate del Castillo is not the news media but rather retribution.
Obviously Joaquín Guzmán is none too happy about his current predicament. It is likely that Edgar and Alfredo, Guzmán’s two sons who purportedly having some control over Guzmán’s drug empire and they are likely not too happy as well. They both have access to vast amounts of money and neither is currently in jail. With all the hoopla in the news media about the part that Kate del Castillo and Sean Peen played in Chapo’s capture they may be looking for retribution. To be clear, no threats have been made but threats are seldom made by them. They just take action.
The other problem facing Sean Penn and his sidekick, Kate del Castillo, is retribution in the form of an embarrassed federal government and another government intent on reminding everyone that there is a prize to pay for hindering apprehension. Whether Castillo or Penn hindered the apprehension is irrelevant, what is important is that both the Mexican and United States governments want to remind everyone that Chapo Guzmán is a dangerous criminal that needs to be behind bars.
Cozying up to El Chapo promotes a façade of a prosecuted farmer who plays robin hood for the poor. Either country might want to make an example of both Kate del Castillo and Sean Penn if nothing else, to put each on notice that cozying up to criminals has a cost associated to it.
Whether Kate del Castillo or Sean Penn are worried is something each of them has to deal with on their own. From my perspective, making money from a movie about El Chapo disparages the many that have died or have been victimized by Guzmán in the pursuit of an ill-gained dollar.
A dollar from a Chapo movie for Castillo or Penn is no different than a dollar from cocaine for Chapo. That dollar has blood on it.
Chapo was obviously thinking with the wrong head.
There was a substantial reward for the arrest of Chapo. Do you think either Sean or Kate qualify for it?
I see the attitude that some in Mexico have towards Chapo as being similar to the attitude some have towards the Mexican government. It doesn’t matter what they do, when they throw a little money around, people will admire them and even provide cover for them regardless of the criminal element.