American actor and Democratic political activist Sean Penn recently conducted a controversial interview with Mexican drug lord Joaquín Guzmán Loera AKA ‘El Chapo’ for Rolling Stone Magazine. Republican candidate and champion of immigrants Marco Rubio calls the interview “grotesque.”
“If one of these American actors who have benefitted from the greatness of this country, who have made money from our free enterprise system, wants to go fawn all over a criminal and a drug trafficker in their interviews, they have a constitutional right to do it,” said Rubio last week on ABC. “I find it grotesque.”
The interview took place in a secluded jungle clearing somewhere in Mexico. Over 100 of Guzmán’s men stood watch as he spoke with the American actor for seven hours. Through the interview, we learned that Guzmán started business at the ripe age of 6, when he began selling soft drinks and oranges. The now-infamous drug lord was only 15 when he started growing poppies and marijuana help his impoverished family.
Today, “I supply more heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana than anybody else in the world,” said Guzmán. “I have a fleet of subamrines, airplanes, trucks, and boats.” Guzmán’s fortune is estimated at about $1 billion and has come with more than a little bloodshed. Still, Guzmán does not consider himself a violent person. “Look, all I do is defend myself, nothing more,” he said to Penn. “But do I start trouble? Never.”
The drug lord is one of the planet’s most wanted fugitives and has escaped jail twice. He was finally captured last Friday in Sinaloa, Mexico after a short gun battle. The Hill reported that the interview may have helped authorities track him down.
“Sean Penn is not someone I spend a lot of time thinking about,” says Rubio. “I didn’t even know he was still around. I guess [the Mexicans] used the interview that he had in order to find him. That’s fantastic. I hope they extradite ‘El Chapo’ to the United States.”