mexico is a country where every day, people fight to live. all too often, they lose that battle. the magnificent, heartbreakingly beautiful country, the music and food, and a uniquely mexican, darkly funny, deeply felt world view. right down there, cuddled up in

ethos, our brother from another mother. ♪ i took a walk through this beautiful world ♪ ♪ felt the cool rain on my shoulder ♪ ♪ found something good in this beautiful world ♪ ♪ i felt the rain getting colder ♪ ♪ sha la la la la ♪ sha la la la la la ♪ sha la la la la ♪ sha la la la la la la

holy mother of santa muerte, please protect my stash of cocaine. let it not be interfered with by the cops, or the competition. let any who would mess with me be killed. my enemies destroyed. please forgive us our sins, for they are many. so is business good? i mean, is there more murders particularly narco murders? [ speaking in a foreign language ] >> every day, mexico wakes up to

count the dead. they are, after all, left out to be seen. often with a helpful note, identifying who done what and generally speaking, why. there is a language to the never-ending violence, a coded message in the twists and marks of the bodies. and valente rojas is one of many documenting them for the press. this is what he does every night, rides around waiting for a phone call or a radio message telling him that there's another one. so who's buying drugs? who's selling drugs to who? [ speaking in a foreign language ]

>> here, you kill each other for a reason. it's business? >> si. >> more mexican civilians have been killed since 2006 than all the american military lost in ten years of the vietnam war and eight years of wars in iraq. what do you do if you're one of these cops, you're driving around one night, you see some guy outside of a bar beating somebody or disturbing the peace, you start to arrest him and he's got a diamond studded pistol, it's got his name on it. now you realize you've just arrested somebody with serious connections. what do you do? [ speaking a foreign language ] >> let him go? >> si.

>> why do they always pull their pants down? our local fixer, alex, is here to translate. >> in this case, he thinks that they pull the pants down so check for weapons. >> they are loading them into the sheet. >> this is the csi team so when they were pulling his pants off, money and jewelry started falling from the pockets. basically, they took the money out his pockets and that was the only available spot. >> to show they didn't take anything. >> yeah, exactly. so this is also a drug dealer. the thing here in mexico, as soon as someone's killed, normally they get candles just right next to them. sometimes it's related to drug dealings and criminals. >> how long have you been doing this? >> about nine years. >> how many bodies do you think? hundreds? >> si. >> how do you push them out of your mind when you're not working? >> a lot of people ask him about this.

but he said like it's a job, not like any other kind of job, but as soon as he gets home, he just takes this cover off and just keep living. >> that's a terrible picture. it's sad, what happened here. >> she run away from a circus so she basically was crossing the highway and just run over. >> the world we live in now, of all of these pictures, this is the one that would get people most upset, you would get the most mail, the most oh, my god, you know, what kind of a world do we live in. >> this was the most run picture from different media around the world. >> 80,000 mexicans have died in the last seven years in narco violence. >> and this is the most important picture. >> as our crew gets ready to crawl back to our hotel, valente gets the call we thought we had been waiting for. one dead male, shot in head.

a note pinned to his chest. in mexico, people fight to live every day. one man stands alone, facing another man. his intent, to beat his opponent with his fists until he can resist no more. a match, yes, but more accurately, a fight. jorge is a former bantamweight title holder with his father, jorge senior and his son alexis, he trains aspiring fighters in the santa anita neighborhood of

mexico city. he knows these young men, like generations of boxers everywhere from other neighborhoods like this, are looking for a way out. >> in mexico, boxing is kind of -- boxing give them a little discipline. >> say you're good but not that good. can you make a living just being a contender? >> no, but a lot of fighters, they try to make it. they want to be a champion. >> everybody wants to be a champion. >> everybody. everybody wants the big shot. >> those are bad odds. the history of boxing is not kind. most managers and owners don't give a -- about the fighters. they use them up but at the end they leave a guy all broken down, no money and scrambled brains. >> just like prostitutes, you know what i mean? >> what are your options?

>> nothing. snatching, robbing. like kids in the hood go kidnap that guy. >> big industry. >> everybody here now wants to be a soccer player. >> why boxing? >> because they make money. >> who's got a longer career, a narco or a boxer? >> i don't know. might be 50/50. narco, you can last longer. >> you can. >> you are protected by the police. you just pay off, nobody's going to touch you. >> expensive protein shakes and dietary supplements, not so much. boxers here eat what they can afford. >> the food is good and it's cheap. you know, in mexico, there is no middle class. >> you are either poor or really, really rich. >> it's a crazy thing. the minimum wage here is like 50, 60 pesos, which is like five

bucks. not an hour, a day. >> but on the other hand, that's why mexican fighters are so exciting. they're hungry. >> exactly. we're hungry. woman: this is not exactly what i expected. man: definitely more murdery than the reviews said. captain obvious: this is a creepy room. man: oh hey, captain obvious. captain obvious: you should have used hotels.com. their genuine guest reviews are written by guests who have genuinely stayed there. instead of people who lie on the internet. son: look, a finger. captain: that's unsettling. man: you think? captain: all the time. except when i sleep. which i would not do here. hotels.com would have mentioned the finger.

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♪ topito is a city within its city. either the dark center or the beating heart of mexico city, depending on your point of view. it's the home of santa muerta, the skeletal st. death. this is where they come, the impoverished, the oppressed, the

marginalized, the criminal. people for whom the traditional church has less relevancy. for the unforgiven and the unforgiveable. for those on whom the catholic saints have turned their backs, there is santa muerte. this is a place and santa muerte is a saint that accepts everybody. death to my enemies written on a votive candle. let's face it, we have all prayed for that at one point or another. topito is a poor neighborhood, for sure, and a tough one. a center of commerce both above-board and not. perhaps a breakfast beverage

first. a michelada. one giant beer with lemon, chili powder, salt and magi sauce. that's a sizeable morning beverage. my companion, blogger and chronicler of the city, jorge pedro. >> wow. a whole season of the walking dead for 25 cents. >> you want to buy something, topito's got it. looking for some cheap underwear, pirated copies of man versus food seasons one through five? this is where you find them. so this all seems very wholesome. where can i buy a gun, some heroin and a prostitute. i was looking forward to that. >> let's say topito has many layers. >> right. >> and we are in the surface. >> okay. >> we are among movies, clothing, families. but i don't think it's -- to ask where can i get the gun. probably they will kill you if you ask that.

you know the patron saint of hopeless cases. >> lost causes. >> it's become very popular in the last years. >> a lot of good smells here, man. a lot of good-looking food. my happy place is somewhere in here. oh, there it is. >> yeah. >> beautiful. wherever there's bones and guts simmering in broth, chances are i'll be happy. writer, sociologist and life-long resident of topito, alphonso hernandez, apparently feels the same way. is this supposed to be a bad neighborhood? this is the best. i love this neighborhood. >> this is known for being the lost souls neighborhood. in topito, there are no angels

but lost souls. >> what's the saying? show your -- to the devil? >> to death. >> the boil comes from cracked hambones to release the marrow which onion and pepper is added. thickened with stale bread and leftover tortillas. you make something awesome out of nothing. >> grandmothers take advantage of the bones of the pigs. >> any great old culture where there's poverty, there's something like this. if you're watching this after you do this, you really got to wash your hands before you touch your -- that's a rookie mistake.

>> she's asking you if you like the meal. >> yeah, it's good. delicious. so this has been open 65 years? >> all the members of the crew are relatives. >> is there hope for social change in this country? >> unfortunately, mexico has become the topito of the world. topito, this is still the emphasis of the mexican. >> not a lot of upward mobility here. the rich get richer, the poor get ground slowly under the wheel. edwardo garcia has hacked his way up the ladder to become chef owner of the city's hottest restaurant. >> i grew up in the states. i was a migrant worker picking fruits and vegetables as a kid. my parents didn't earn a lot of money, so i decided to work rather than go to school. >> the restaurant business as i

well know ain't no picnic. in mexico city, it's particularly rough. >> mexico has a reputation where we all know that the country's run by corrupt politics. you have to stand up for what you believe. if you don't, people will run you over. you won't last a minute. i don't let people bully me around. >> garcia runs maximo bistro with his wife, gabriella. here's the extra crap you have to deal with if you run the hottest restaurant in mexico city. in 2013, the spoiled daughter of the head of mexico's consumer protection agency walks in and demands a table when there's unsurprisingly, no table available. when garcia says sorry, no can do, she pulls a you know who i am and then calls daddy and gets the health inspectors in to shut the place down.

so your other customers basically started taking pictures with their cell phones? >> next thing you know, we have the media outside and this is friday. >> right. >> sunday morning, we're front page of one of the most important newspapers in mexico. >> it was very embarrassing to the government. >> and it should be. >> because they got caught doing what they do all the time but if you were not the hottest restaurant in town, you were just running a cantina a few blocks away -- >> i would have -- >> they would have closed you down and that's that. right now, the defiant young creative generation of chefs like edwardo are performing some of the most exciting cooking anywhere on earth, a mixing of the very old and traditional with the very new. >> as a kid, one of the jobs throughout the whole time that i worked is how old are you, i'm 18. you've been 18 for three years.

those are abilone. i told you i love butter. i use it even for some mexican dishes and then just roasted chilies just to give it a nice little kick for me. >> they are finished with lemon and of course, brown butter. beautiful. mm. very delicious. very mexican, very french. brown butter, awesome. makes everything better. >> of course. i think the most important thing about mexican cuisine in general if it's traditional, it's the ingredients. >> successling pig topped with grandma's salsa. an instant classic. >> have at it. you do it like the mexican way. pick it up and go. >> wow. pretty hard to imagine anything better than that. you're stuck with this dish forever, man. it's going to be like mick

jagger 50 years from now singing "satisfaction." there's no getting away from it, man. this is so good. this is a classic. but even now with all his success, garcia is still fighting a struggle most mexicans are all too familiar with. >> what happened that day happens every day. and the promise always is we're going to shut you down, you don't know who i am. and for me, i would rather close my restaurant than live like that. if you close my restaurant, i will go across the street, i will go to another state or i will go to another country, and i still will make a good restaurant. "nathan, which dish is better?". now i say you can have it all with our new seafood trios! red lobster's new seafood trios is three times delicious! choose one option from the wood-fire grill, one signature shrimp dish, and a pasta like new lobster mac and cheese. three choices all on one plate. just $15.99. for a limited time only!

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to prepare our kids to compete main today's economy?way woman: a well-rounded education that focuses on science, math, and career training for students who don't choose college. man: and that's exactly what superintendent of public education tom torlakson has been working on. woman: because every student needs the real world skills for the jobs of tomorrow. man: torlakson's career readiness initiative is helping schools expand job and technical training across the state because it makes a difference. woman: so tell tom torlakson to keep fighting for the career and technical training our students need.

♪ under former president felipe calderon, mexico launched a concerted war on drugs. ostensibly against the notorious and seemingly untouchable cartels. absolutely no one can say with any credibility, by the way, that mexico's war or our trillion dollar war has had any effect in diminishing the flow of drugs into our country.

one very brave journalist has uncovered exactly how deep the rot of corruption and dirty money has penetrated into every level of mexican institutions. >> my grandmother, how we used to drink is never with lemon, it was with orange. >> it is not what a lot of people wanted to hear, much less see published. today, anibelle hernandez lives under guard in a secret location. the threat, very, very real and very explicit. you think there was ever a minute when the calderon war on drugs, was it ever genuine? >> no. calderon start the war against the drug cartels, he just followed that instruction but he didn't really do anything new.

he just did it worse. since the beginning, the plan was protect the cartel and fight against the enemies of this cartel. >> of the seven major mexican cartels, the cineloa cartel is considered the most powerful with the farthest reaching and most pervasive tentacles extending deep into every corner of government, banking and private industry. its rivals, the tijuana cartel, the gulf cartel, the juarez cartel, la familia micharcana. the cartels are responsible for importing roughly three quarters of all illegal narcotics to america. in your work, you uncovered what had to be some very embarrassing and incriminating associations

and connections between very high elected officials, the presidents and entire administrations, and acts of incredible criminality. how did that change your life? >> when i started to make this investigation in 2005, i really understand that it would be very dangerous. i have to say that it wasn't really a surprise for me what happened after i published my book. what i didn't expect is that the threats came from the federal government. >> she says that one of her sources warned her that the biggest threat was from within, that one of the most highly placed, most senior law enforcement officials in mexico had ordered her killed. >> because in my book, i put his

name and also showed some documents that proves that he was involved, he was on the payroll of this cartel. >> what happened to this man? >> right now, he's very happy drinking rum, i think, building many enterprises, fake enterprises, laundry his money. >> to me, a banker who launders money, he's got a family, he's got a reputation, he gives money to charity, his neighbors think he's great, his kids think he's wonderful, he's got something to lose. so i wouldn't be prosecuting drug dealers. i would be prosecuting bankers. >> the name of my book is what it is because the leaders of these cartels know, they are also this. the politicians and bankers and the businessmen, the people have to know who are these people by name.

>> you have been a journalist for how long? >> 20. 20 years. >> 20 years. your father was killed, kidnapped and killed in 2000? >> my father was a businessman. in that year, many gangs used to kidnap businessmen just for money. so when we went to the police and asked them to investigate, they said well, if you pay us, we will make the investigation. so as family, we decide to pay because you cannot buy the justice. since that, i really tried to fight against corruption. that's why i'm doing what i do, because i think that corruption is the worst problem in mexico. the drug cartels are maybe the worst face of that problem, but the problem in the deep is the corruption. the corruption is the mother of all our problems in mexico.

>> it should be pointed out that 88 journalists, how many journalists have been killed in this country? >> 90 now. >> 90 journalists have now been killed or disappeared over the last few years. >> yeah. >> you can kill a journalist and get away with it. why are you still here? >> i have lost many things in my life. my father was the most important person in my life. i already lost everything. i don't have any life anymore. i don't have a social life. i don't have a sentimental life. i don't have anything. i just have my work and my family. and my work of a journalist is everything for me. i really believe that good journalists can change the world. i have received many offers to go outside to france, to sweden and other countries.

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i came to ahawka for mescal. i like mescal more and more these days and this guy, ron cooper, finds and sells some of the best mescal in the world. we're at the zappatec ruins of

monte alba. >> in pre-conquest mexico, there were gods and goddesses of intoxication and ecstasy. the touch of a lover, the smell of a flower, the a-ha of an idea, all had gods and goddesses that took responsibility for those things. >> all of your mescals come from different villages and only that village? >> and only one maker in that village. we call ourself single village mescal because most mescals are made with a blend of different villages all put together. no one goes home and has a cocktail in these indian villages. they wait until there's a special occasion.

every birth, death, confirmation, baptism, there's a fiesta. a wedding is eight days. you invite 200 people. you feed them breakfast, lunch and dinner. you have a band every day. and then they really consume. don't drink yet. for mother earth and her ancestors. that's extraordinary. back in the day, it was cheap stuff with a worm in it and there were rumors that if you ate the worm, you would start tripping, there was a hallucinogenic component to that stuff. is there a particular kind of high? is this an enlightening high? is this a good high? >> the high is humorous.

there are funny thoughts dancing around the back of your head. >> happy, witty thoughts. >> yes. >> ancient, indigenous traditions of ingredients define not only the mescal but also the food. >> one of the main reasons people visit our city is to eat. >> this is alejandro romedo, one of mexico's best chefs. he started cooking young. when he was 12, his mother died and it fell on him to raise and feed his five siblings. >> this is what we call -- >> today he draws much of his inspiration from wahawka's central market. probably america's most beloved food is what they think is mexican food. >> yes. >> and i think most americans' view of mexican food is beans, fried tortilla, melted cheese,

some chicken. >> yes. >> in fact, in particular when talking about wahawka, this is a deep, really sophisticated cuisine. >> that's correct. wahawka has different microclimates all over our territory. that gives us this enormous amount of surprises, produce, fruits, chilis. >> like 500,000 varieties of corn. this is where the good -- grows. >> this lady here is always making the best. >> tender. >> yes. tender, tasty. >> crunch. >> cabbage and cilantro. >> oh, unbelievably good. so tasty. mm. deep. it's good. i'll finish this. this is just too damn good.

>> people have this barbecue especially on sundays. it's a tradition. >> so tasty. >> all this is full of chilis. people think that mexican food is spicy because of all the chili we use. we go for flavor, not for the spices. >> what most people miss is how really deep and really sophisticated the sauces here can be. like lyon is to france, wahawka is to mexico, in my experience. >> you're right. also in my experience. >> not kissing your ass here. i was just in lyon. this is vicky's place. she has been cooking up traditional wahawkan dishes in the market for 30 years. >> whoa, that's awesome. oh, man. so the guy working, first of all, a lot of what you see now

are metal. that's old school, super old school. that's the way they did back on the clay kamal. i'm looking there, he's doing tortillas and doing one of my favorite things, zucchini flour with string cheese. so pretty to see. >> his cooking is focused, his passion have very old, very deep roots. >> since you are 6, 7, 8, you have the responsibility to help water the plantation, milk the cows and help my mom when she was making tortillas like that, she would give me directions and say okay, roll the chilis, roll the tomatoes, i will tell you how to prepare the salsa. it was the beginning of my profession, learning from the knowledge of how a tomato should taste like when you cut it

directly from the plant. >> the way it should taste. >> that's right. >> oh, man. happy. >> this is what i should do. try it first like this. >> just grab a hunk. >> yes. put salsa. >> yeah. i haven't been anywhere in mexico where the cooking is better than here. >> this is the way to share our culture, through our food. hey! [squeals] ♪ [ewh!] [baby crying] the great thing about a subaru is you don't have to put up with that new car smell for long. the versatile, 2015 subaru forester. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

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♪ the quiet little town of teo de kline el beye is outside of wahawka, a town where the crafts and traditions of prehispanic mexico are celebrated and packaged for consumption. abigail mendosa and her sister are zapotec, original people from mexico before the spanish, before the aztecs. this is her restaurant, where abigail has been grinding corn by hand, making food like this, the ridiculously faithful, time-consuming traditional way she was taught to make these

things and the way she's been making them since she was 6 years old. look at her hands, by the way. small, surprisingly delicate, given all the hard work, all the pushing, kneading, grinding, stone against stone over the years. then look at her forearms. the power there. it's impressive and beautiful. >> every time you enter the house, in wahawka, especially in the small villages, they always offer you a shot of mescal. >> mm, so good. a molee and chicken dish, this sauce like a lot of the old school sauces made by masters like abigail use 35 different types of chili peppers and take more than two weeks to make.

do you think that until recently, until guys like you, that mexicans were not looking back at their own food culture, they were looking elsewhere? what was going on? >> we were conquerers. we are were also a culture that was conquered first by the aztecs and then conquered by the spaniards so we were always taught everything that was good and excellent has to be imported. >> right. >> what we have here, it was just not good. >> right. another zapotecan classic, chili agua, a simpler dish of cow and pork brains cooked with chili, tomatoes and yorba santa. >> as a cook, the main thing was to develop a little bit my cuisine here. there was this space where nobody tried to innovate. still using the same techniques, the same ingredient, the same flavors, herbs, et cetera, but

developing them a little bit. >> i mean, that's as old-school as it gets. >> a final dish, this one, this is something that you do not find anywhere as mexico. >> the quoi yet night. the central square of wahaka. but even tonight there's plenty of evidence of the struggle, the discontent boiling just under the surface. the graffiti and painting of this street artist captures that

spirit of protest. ♪ tie last supper, for sure. >> last supper by mexican. >> who are these people? >> these are most powerful people in mexico. people that is driving mexico. this is the president right now. this is calderon. >> right. >> the last president. >> the last president. >> that guy is like the economy guy. >> right. >> who's moving the economy in mexico. and this is the army. this is a prostitute. this represent because they are like prostitutes. >> right. >> you know? and narco traffic. >> oh. >> he is like the god in mexico. you know? because he is, like, over -- >> all of it. >> yeah. >> so this is the way mexico works?

>> yeah. for me, the most problem in mexico is the corruption. >> mexico can be a dangerous place for journalists, for politicians, for police. is it a dangerous place for artists in. >> yeah. i think so a little bit because you do not agree with the government, you are like enemy. >> right. daughter's credit card. he thought it was the end of the conversation. she didn't tell him that her college expenses were going up. or that she maxed out her card during spring break. when the satellite provider checked his credit, he found out his daughter didn't pay her bills. but he's not worried. now he checks his credit report and score at experian.com, allowing him to keep track of his credit and take a break of his own. experian. live credit confident.

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in 1936, the town 50 miles from mexico city was visited by malcolm lowry. the tormented self loathing brilliant and hopelessly alcoholic author. his life work under the volcano was set here. it is widely believed to be one of the great novels of the 20th century. lowry saw symbolism and evil everywhere here. in the deep areas, the looming volcano that towered overhead. writer, poet, javier cecilia, has reason to see evil, too.

on march 28th, 2011, narcos kidnapped and murdered his son and six other equally blameless victims. cecilia found himself to march to mexico city to demand an end to the increasingly futile so-called war on drugs that was mindlessly grinding up so many victims in the crossfire and in the margins. in "under the volcano," the evil that's coming is fascism, naziism. when's the heart of the infernal machine today?

what does he want to say? what does he want people to hear? can he think of one place on earth where the good guys are winning and where you are not ground under the wheels of the machine?

have you written a poem since the death of your son? as i have come to know in my own life, drugs, even drug addiction, can be a survivable event. death is not. death is final.

you ever stop to think about how much you're being watched every single of your life? technology's only made it easier to watch anyone anywhere at any time. but these technologies aren't just being used to track every day criminals or back guys but ordinary people, people like us. and it's not just cameras. you're being tracked every time you use your credit card or your cell phone. it seems like these days no noter where you go somebody's watching. big question is, who's watching? and why?