The majority of avocados in the US come from one single state in Mexico: Michoacan. In recent years, drug cartels have started to terrorize the avocado producers there, murdering them, stealing farms, and exacting protection money from the ones that remain. Many farmers have now formed armed vigilante groups, called autodefensas, that have begun to fight back against the cartels. Last month, the Mexican government sent in the military to avoid an all out civil war.
On February 25th, Joseph Orosco will lead us through the development of our current situation. We will then be joined by Professor Victor Vargas, a professor of international relations, and vice president of Academic Affairs, at the Universidad Latin de America in Morelia, Michoacan. He will discuss, via Skype, what this situation means for democracy in Mexico and the impact that it has on the US, including American consumers and the legacy of the “War on Drugs”. There will be time for questions and dialogue.
Is this actually true? If so, quite astonishing how a demand of a certain good in one part of the world (Europe) can cause social problems on the other side of the world. As an environmentalist, I created a website about environmental issues. One of them was obviously the increasing demand for avocados. Not only does it contribute to a lot of water usage, but they are also transported on the other side of the world.
And this is how I found your website – simply by doing research about the social problems connected with avocado production.