Thursday 25 / April / 2024
Mexico City: Notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquin " El Chapo" Guzman feels neither remorse nor responsibility for smuggling billions of dollars worth of drugs into the United States, and does not consider himself a violent man despite countless murders blamed on him.
He also considers himself a loving family man who has a "perfect" relationship with his mother and who never starts trouble, but is ready to defend himself when needed.
Guzman was recaptured on Friday in northwest Mexico six months after a brazen prison-break.
But weeks ago, he gave an unprecedented glimpse into his psyche in a secret interview with Hollywood A-lister Sean Penn for Rolling Stone magazine that was published on Saturday.
How would he define himself?
"With respect, and from my point of view, it's a person who's not looking for problems in any way," he told Penn in a video recording, after meeting the actor at an undisclosed location weeks earlier in Mexico to pact an interview.
A volatile security situation prevented the pair from meeting again for the interview in person. Mexican government sources said on Saturday that authorities knew of the planned meeting so were able to track Penn's movements and locate Guzman, helping them in his eventual capture.
"Look, all I do is defend myself, nothing more. But do I start trouble? Never," Guzman said in the interview, adding that he thanked Almighty for helping him to break out of prison last year.
Guzman, who once met Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, confided he had not himself taken drugs for 20 years, and at the time, before his capture, considered himself a happy person "because of my freedom".
"I don't feel anything that hurts my health or my mind. I feel good," he said.
After his capture on Friday, Guzman glared when soldiers twisted his head towards TV cameras during a perp-walk in Mexico City.
Asked by Penn if he felt responsible for the high levels of drug addiction in the world, Guzman responded: "No, that is false, because the day I don't exist, it's not going to decrease in any way at all."
But, he added unapologetically: "I don't want to be portrayed as a nun."
Penn said Guzman asked whether many people in the United States had heard of him, and that he proudly declared "I supply more Drugs than anybody else in the world. I have a fleet of submarines, airplanes, trucks and boats".
Penn also recounted how Guzman voiced interest in the movie business and how it works, but was unimpressed with its financial yield.
Guzman was also interested in getting into the oil business, but recognised that the fact his gains are ill-gotten limits what he can invest in.
"He cites (but asks me not to name in print) a host of corrupt major corporations, both within Mexico and abroad. He notes with delighted disdain several through which his money has been laundered, and who take their own cynical slice of the narco pie," Penn wrote in the article.
