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Secretary of State Hilary Clinton will visit Mexico this week in the first of a series of visits by top US officials, ahead of President Obama’s visit next month. Clinton’s visit with Mexican President Felipe Calderon comes at a time when news of violence by Mexico’s drug-cartel is dominating the news. Thousands of people have been killed across Mexico and in the border towns of Tijuana and Juarez. Meanwhile the US has reduced funding for the so-called Merida initiative, ostensibly aimed at curbing drug smuggling and violence. In addition to drug-related violence, Clinton also plans to discuss US-Mexico trade relations with Calderon. Calderon’s government has expressed fear that the US will revert to protectionist policies in the wake of the recession. Both Obama and Clinton mentioned re-negotiating NAFTA during their presidential campaigns. More recently, a growing controversy over Mexican truckers signals what could be the beginnings of a trade war. After Obama signed a spending bill banning Mexican long-haul trucks, the Mexican government retaliated by ratcheting up tariffs on American imports by 20-45%. A new book by journalist and author John Gibler, examines drug-violence and NAFTA in the context of implacable corruption and impunity in Mexico, vast income disparities, the resulting mass migration, and more. The book is called Mexico Unconquered: Chronicles of Power and Revolt. KPFK host and FSRN Anchor Aura Bogado recently spoke with John Gibler in studio and began by asking him to comment on conquest as a historical concept.

GUEST: John Gibler, independent journalist and author of “Mexico Unconquered: Chronicles of Power and Revolt”