I’ve been following Ed Calderon for a few months now. This is the first real, in-depth interview I’ve seen with him. I’d love to sit down with him for a while, myself. Everyone needs to listen to this, as long as it is. He touches on the nature and worsening levels of the violence, outside influences, and the superstitions that fuel much of the cruelty.
A recent one-star review for Crimson Star, from a reader in the UK, denounced the situation I outlined in that book as “American conspiracy theory.” I’ve run into other people (Larry Correia, JL Curtis, and I had a long conversation with Peter Orullian at LTUE back in February that was a bit eye opening on this subject) who have no idea what’s happening south of the border, not really. They think that the most vicious irregular war on the face of the planet is just racist, xenophobic propaganda from Americans. Truth is, it’s worse than even most of those with an eye on the situation up north realize.
Ed Calderon was a cop in Tijuana, starting before Felipe Calderon declared war on the cartels. He’s seen the war up close for years, and now he trains people based on what he’s learned during the war.
A lot of what he talks about, I’ve found from other sources. Sometimes it’s good to get an insider perspective to confirm or deny such things, though. And Ed Calderon has that perspective. (I have heard about the Mesoamerican origin of La Santa Muerte, but Ed confirms it more authoritatively than I’ve found before.)
Listen closely to what he has to say. (I can’t say I agree with him entirely on some of his conclusions for a path forward near the end, but nobody agrees with anyone on everything.)
You can follow Ed Calderon at his website and social media. I’d recommend it, if you want to know more about what’s going on down south.
Shawn is good people, I interviewed him for Soldier of Fortune my highest viewed article.