Mexican activists demand soap operas about drugs be banned before midnight

Mexican politicians and conservative activists are demanding that television shows about the drugs trade be banned before midnight to spare impressionable young people from exposure to the gratuitous violence and lavish lifestyles of mafia kingpins.

They argue that shows such as Lord of the Skies - which dramatises the life of Juarez cartel founder Amado Carillo Fuentes - and Queen of the South - the story of a fictional female kingpin - glorify crime at a time when the country is increasingly overwhelmed by drug war violence.

In a joint statement this week, the presidents of the radio, TV and cinema commissions of the senate and chamber of deputies said that authorities should not allow television stations to “promote apologies for violence and make narco-trafficking and its activities appear aspirational as a lifestyle”.

Zoe Robledo and Lia Limon accused the so-called narconovelas of weakening Mexico's social fabric "by promoting false values and aggressive social behaviour, which provides regrettable feedback to organised crime".

The call for a ban comes as Mexico approaches the 10th anniversary of the launch of a militarized crackdown on organised crime - a campaign that has cost an estimated 150,000 lives, left more than 25,000 missing but failed to impose the rule of law or slow down the drugs trade.

The ban is supported by a campaign group known as In Favour of the Best, which argues that in a country where more people own TV sets than refrigerators, terrestrial TV channels “influence the conduct and the aspirations of millions of Mexicans”.

“This tragedy cannot be turned into entertainment,” said Francisco Gonzalez Garza, president of In Favour of the Best, who said that in theory, existing rules already ban shows with excessive violence or sexual themes from primetime.

The move is not without precedent: some states and municipalities have approved ordinances banning narcorridos - songs which lionise drug lords

But Rodolfo Soriano-Nunez, an anthropologist in Mexico City, said that there is no evidence that such bans have any effect on behaviour. Such ordinances prove population with politicians, he said, "because it is easier to chase a singer than a narco".

Mexico's two biggest over-the- air networks - Televisa and TV Azteca - have long histories of producing and exporting steamy soap operas known as telenovelas but have steadily lost audiences in recent years as tastes change and Mexicans opt for other programming such as shows on streaming services and cable channels.

Mexican films such as El Infierno, Miss Bala and Hell have confronted the cost and carnage of the drug war - but most of the narco series are actually produced in the US or Colombia, suggesting the appetite for shows based on unpleasant realities is still somewhat limited.

“Countries outside Mexico have generally been known for their tolerance of more realistic TV drama,” said Paul Julian Smith, professor at the City University of New York.

This week’s call for a ban came after a new network, Imagine Television, launched in October with a twice weekly prime time show on the drugs business named El Capo.

Guardian Service