Mexican drug lord makes Forbes' billionaire list

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AfterGlow

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Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera, pictured in 1993, ranks 701th on Forbes' yearly report on billionaires.

CNN
March 13, 2009

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- What do software mogul Bill Gates and banking investor Warren Buffett have in common with wanted Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera?
Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera, pictured in 1993, ranks 701th on Forbes' yearly report on billionaires.

Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera, pictured in 1993, ranks 701th on Forbes' yearly report on billionaires.

They are all featured in Forbes magazine's world's billionaires report as "self-made" billionaires.

Guzman Loera, whose nickname means Shorty, escaped from a Mexican prison in 2001. He heads the powerful Sinaloa cartel, investigators say. Authorities on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border blame the Sinaloa and other cartels for a surge in violence in the region.

He ranked 701th on Forbes' yearly report, with an estimated fortune of $1 billion.

Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora expressed outrage at the publication and described Forbes' calculations on Guzman Loera's fortune as mere "speculation."

"I will never accept that a criminal could be recognized as someone distinguished, even if it is by a magazine like Forbes," Medina Mora said to local media during a drug traffic summit Thursday in Vienna, Austria.

Forbes is "comparing the deplorable activity of a criminal wanted in Mexico and abroad with that of honest businessmen," he said.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon -- speaking at a business summit Thursday in Mexico City -- alluded to the report, saying, "It is very sad the intensification of a campaign, which seems to me, has been launched against Mexico."

Calderon added, "Public opinion and now even magazines not only attack and lie about the situation in Mexico but now also praise criminals. In Mexico, it is considered a crime to praise criminals."

Guzman Loera has a three-decade history of drug trade spanning North, Central and South America. The Forbes profile of Guzman Loera reported that "the U.S. government is offering a $5 million reward" for the billionaire's capture.

Forbes magazine was not available for comment, but its article offers a clue as to why Guzman Loera made the list.

"So is there anywhere one can still make a fortune these days? The 38 newcomers offer a few clues. Among the more notable new billionaires are Mexican Joaquin Guzman Loera, one of the biggest suppliers of cocaine to the U.S.

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Roger&Me said:
This coming from a country where people regularly have to bribe law-enforcement agents..
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lol i think everywhere is like that, when i was living in brooklyn and jon gotti got locked in the 90's the whole nieghborhood went crazy and got pissed off. everytime he got let off they would throw a huge party.... but yeah, this is crazy a drug cartel leader on forbes.:p
 
Forbes is "comparing the deplorable activity of a criminal wanted in Mexico and abroad with that of honest businessmen," he said.
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Is there anyone on the billionaire list that is completely innocent? Can a person become a billionaire without breaking any laws?
 
If anything he deserves more praise. To run that large and successful of a business, you have gotta be a pretty smart guy.
 
That's not why he deserves more praise. Every businessman must accomplish that to be successful. To do that with a 5 million USD bounty on your head while multiple nations throw their armies at you: that's impressive.

He doesn't deserve praise though. Criminals shouldn't be praised. He isn't a freedom fighter. The people who deserve praise are the ones who are actively working to overturn unjust laws: not the ones who are keeping it illegal so they can make absurd profits.

People who kill for money don't deserve praise.

If he'd put his money behind legalization and regulation, people wouldn't be going to prison for this stupidity and people wouldn't be losing their lives over turf wars. People wouldn't be dying over aldulterated product.
 
Individuals can be extremely rich only if the majority of people are poor. The less you give to others, the more you pocket yourself and therefore you can climb the ladder higher on a millionaire list. All of the millionaires on this list are the same in that respect.
 
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