You mean to tell me that a notorious Mexican drug lord who was arrested in February of last year, and whose net worth has been estimated by Forbes to be about $1 billion, managed to escape from the Altiplano maximum-security prison west of Mexico City in a poor country where many people earn as little as $6 per day?

How did that happen? Take a guess. Money opens doors. But more importantly, in Mexico, it also builds tunnels.

As a Mexican-American who views my grandfather's homeland with a mix of angst and amusement, and who recognizes that a corrupt and divided Mexico is often its own worst enemy, I can't say I'm surprised.

[continues 640 words]