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Joaquin Guzman Loera has not only become famous for being a self made billionaire but also commands enough power to create international conflict even in absence.
Although he has managed to stay under the radar with no official sightings and has been in hiding from U.S. and Mexican authorities since his 2001 prison escape, he became larger than life once again last week by placing No.701 on the 2009 Forbes World Billionaire report.
Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora expressed outrage at the publication and described Forbes' calculations on Guzman Loera's fortune as mere "speculation" stating:
"I will never accept that a criminal could be recognized as someone distinguished, even if it is by a magazine like Forbes. Forbes is "comparing the deplorable activity of a criminal wanted in Mexico and abroad with that of honest businessmen."-Eduardo Medina Mora, Mexican Attorney General
I've got to give a point to Medina Mora. I do think Forbes based their $1 billion financial estimate of Guzman-Loera on pure speculation; had they really done their homework, I'm sure he's worth much, much more.
President Calderon had his feathers ruffled by Forbes' report as well; speaking in a business summit in Mexico City he recently commented:
"It is very sad the intensification of a campaign, which seems to me, has been launched against Mexico. 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."-President Felipe Calderon
Forbes Magazine's Editor in Chief, Steve Forbes, responded and defended their decision to include Mexico's and the United States' most wanted drug trafficker with a simple three line press release stating:
It is deplorable that someone like this has a billion dollars. The magazine was simply doing its job and reporting a fact. Forbes has listed other criminals from Meyer Lansky (1982) to Pablo Escobar (1987-1993) on our Rich Lists, don't shoot the messenger."-Steve Forbes, Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Magazine
It's been a tough year with the global economic crisis and all, if you don't believe me, just look at the Forbes' List.
The richest people in the world have gotten poorer, just like the rest of us. This year the world's billionaires have an average net worth of $3 billion, down 23% in 12 months. The world now has 793 billionaires, down from 1,125 a year ago. -Forbes Magazine 2009
I, personally, can't say I was completely shocked to find Shorty on the list. I guess one doesn't generally doesn't consider the fact that wealth acquired thru drug trafficking, money laundering, and assasination is still, in the eyes of the world, or at least the eyes of Forbes Magazine, a success. But hey, like I said, times are tough; sometimes you've got to scrape the bottom of the barrel.
In all fairness, although I do not agree with including a man guilty of killing God only knows how many people, Forbes is doing it's job. The list is, after all, about billionaires, period, not the ethics of becoming a billionaire. My only doubt, with that in mind, is why Osama Bin Laden, Bernie Madoff, and hell, even the war/oil monger top earning ex U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney didn't make the cut.
