Appendix A: References
1. ‘Blood avocados’: What supermarkets won’t tell you. Zahra Yarali, interviewing Leticia Merino, TRTWorld (video), July 11, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg4asfAAr3k
2. US importers sued for ‘green-washing’ Mexican avocado. Isabel Kaminski. Civil Eats.com July 9, 2025 https://civileats.com/2025/07/09/u-s-importers-sued-for-greenwashing-mexican-avocados/
3. https://voxdev.org/topic/institutions-political-economy/heroin-avocados-how-fentanyl-reshaped-cartel-violence-mexico . Itzel de Haro, University of Navarra. Voxdev.org. June 6, 2025
4. The iconic California avocado is in trouble. Daniel Miller, LA Times, May 30, 2025. https://url.avanan.click/v2/r01/___https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-05-30/california-avocado-farmers-mexico___.
5. Blood avocados: The dark truth behind the world’s favourite superfruit. Anthea Ayache. The Ethicalist, May 16, 2025. https://theethicalist.com/blood-avocados-the-dark-truth/
6. In Mexico’s ‘avocado belt,’ villagers stand up to protect their lands. Agustin del Castillo and Fred Pearce. Yale Environment360, May 2, 2025. https://e360.yale.edu/features/mexico-indigenous-avocado-growers
7. Love avocados? Biden admin caving to Mexican cartels could have devastating impact on wildly popular fruit. Emma Colton. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/love-avocados-biden-admin-caving-mexican-cartels-could-have-devastating-impact-wildly-popular-fruit Foxnews.com, April 17,2025
8. From fentanyl to avocado: The many faces of the Mexican cartels targeted by Trump. Pablo Ferri, El Pais International Feb 20, 2025. https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-02-20/from-fentanyl-to-avocado-the-many-faces-of-the-mexican-cartels-targeted-by-trump.html
9. Farmers, farmworkers face off over proposed $26 minimum wage. Jennifer Best, Santa Maria Times, Dec 4, 2024. https://santamariatimes.com/news/local/farmers-farmworkers-face-off-over-proposed-26-minimum-wage/article_0510ab38-b286-11ef-bc74-4735ff078c9c.html
10. Pablo Lemus, governor-elect of Jalisco, announced that Francisco Mayorga will be the next president of the Water Advisory Council in his administration, which will begin on December 6 of this year https://www.telediario.mx/comunidad/francisco-mayorga-presidente-consejo-consultivo-agua-jalisco
11. Women Can Be Autocrats, Too. Behind the Curtain of Mexico’s Progress. David Frum, The Atlantic, October 8, 2024. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2024/10/mexico-autocracy-sheinbaum-lopez-obrador/680192/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=author-david-frum&utm_term=Author+Following+-+David+Frum
12. Blood Avocados? Trade Liberalization and Cartel Violence in Mexico. Megan Erickson and Lucas Owen. Comparative Political Studies Vol 58, Issue 9. Oct 17, 2024. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00104140241290198
13. We are moving forward so that avocados that go to the United States do not come from illegal orchards to combat deforestation. Ken Salazar, September 20, 2024. https://www.freshfruitportal.com/news/2024/09/24/u-s-ambassador-to-mexico-commends-michoacans-effort-to-combat-illegal-avocado-orchards/
14. US to hand over pest inspections of Mexican avocados to Mexico and California growers aren’t happy. Associated Press – Business News September 24, 2024.
15. Deforestation in Mexico: US Avocado Sellers Fail to End Sourcing from Illegally Deforested Land in Mexico. CRI Reports, August 6, 2024. https://cri.org/reports/us-avocado-sellers-fail-to-end-sourcing-from-illegally-deforested-land-in-mexico/
16. Mexico’s’ Michoacan state launches avocado certification aimed at curbing deforestation. Cassandra Garrison, Reuters – Climate & Energy. August 28, 2024. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexicos-michoacan-state-launches-avocado-certification-aimed-curbing-2024-08-28/
17. As cartels take a stake in ‘green gold,’ US and Mexico rethink how avocados reach American kitchens. David Shortell, CNN, July 13, 2024. https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/13/americas/avocado-cartel-us-mexico-intl-latam
18. Mexican cartels are diversifying business beyond drugs. Here’s where they are profiting. Karol Suárez, USA Today Network, July 5, 2024. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/07/05/mexican-cartels-diversify-fuel-tortillas-piso/74286304007/
19. How Reliant is the U.S. on Avocados from Mexico? A temporary halt on inspections by U.S.D.A workers on safety concerns highlighted how dependent the United States had become on one region for supplies of the popular fruit. Danielle Kay, New York Times, July 3, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/03/business/avocado-imports-mexico.html
20. Angry farmers in a once-lush Mexican state target avocado orchards that suck up too much water. Armando Solís, AP News - World News, April 24, 2024. https://keyt.com/news/2024/04/23/villagers-in-mexico-organize-to-take-back-their-water-as-drought-avocados-dry-up-lakes-and-rivers/
21. Mexican Avocado Imports Marketing Linked to Deforestation Need to End. Center for Biologic Diversity, April 18, 2024. BiologicalDiversity.org
22. Are Mexican drug cartels as powerful as people think? Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, August 28, 2024. https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2024-08-28/are-mexican-drug-cartels-as-powerful-as-people-think
23. How Criminal Groups Help Expand Mexico’s Multibillion-Dollar Avocado Industry, March 2024. How Criminal Groups Aided Mexico's Avocado Industry (insightcrime.org)
24. Soldiers and civilians are dying as Mexican cartels embrace a terrifying new weapon: Land mines.
Keegan Hamilton and Kate Linthicum. Los Angeles Times, Mar 9, 2024
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2024-03-09/mexico-cartel-land-minesweapons
25. Opinion How to clean up your Super Bowl guacamole. Washington Post Editorial Board. Feb 10, 2024
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/02/10/guacamole-avocadodeforestation-
mexico-super-bowl/
26. US/Mexico: U.S. Senators Urge Action on Mexican Avocados. Proposed Certification Requirement Key to Curbing Deforestation, Abuse. Climate Research International. Feb 8, 2024
https://cri.org/us-senators-urge-action-on-mexican-avocados/
27. Full CRI Report. Unholy Guacamole: Deforestation, Water Capture, and Violence Behind Mexico’s Avocado Exports to the U.S. and Other Major Markets. Max Schoening, November 2023 https://cri.org/reports/unholy-guacamole/
28. Video short https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg5wk85FMvY
29. Senator Peter Welch letter concerning widespread illegal deforestation and unsustainable water use linked to avocados imported from Mexico. Feb 7, 2024.
https://www.welch.senate.gov/welch-colleagues-urge-usda-ustr-and-state-departmentto-
address-illegal-deforestation-linked-to-avocados-produced-in-mexico/
https://www.welch.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/20240207-Sen-Welch-
Letter-to-State-USDA-USTR.pdf
30. Do you love avocados? At what cost to Mexico? Max Schoening. Los Angeles Times Op Ed, January 22, 2024. Opinion: Do you love avocados? Do you know what that's doing to Mexico? - Los
Angeles Times (latimes.com)
31. Violent and vibrant: Mexico’s avocado boom and organized crime. Romain Grandmaison, Paul Martinez. Greens/European Free Alliance, European Parliament. January 2024.
https://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Romain-Le-Cour-
Grandmaison-Paul-Frissard-Martinez-Violent-and-vibrant-Mexicos-avocado-boomand-
organized-crime.-GI-TOC-January-2024.pdf
32. Avocado Growing Destroying Mexican Forests. Marci Kreiter. The Food Institute. Dec 21, 2023
Avocado Growing Destroying Mexican Forests - The Food Institute
33. Americans Love Avocados. It’s Killing Mexico’s Forests. By Simon Romero and Emiliano Rodríguez Mega. The New York Times Nov. 28, 2023
Americans Love Avocados. It’s Killing Mexico’s Forests. - The New York Times(nytimes.com)
34. Mexico’s avocados and arms trafficking/ The criminal combination suffocating Michoacán. By Stephania Corpitoya and Toya Sarno Jordan. The International. Nov 11, 2023
Mexico’s Avocados and Arms Trafficking: The Criminal Combination Suffocating Michoacán | Pulitzer Center
35. US State Department Mexico Travel Advisory, issued August 22, 2023
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/mexicotravel-
advisory.html
36. The violent underbelly of the avocado industry. By Scott Detrow, Texas Public Radio/ NPR Aug 6, 2023.
The violent underbelly of the avocado industry : NPR
37. Avocados: The green gold that wipes western Mexico’s forests from the map. Agustin del Castillo, Mongabay, 16 June 2023. https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/avocados-the-green-gold-that-wipes-western-mexicos-forests-from-the-map/ . https://mongabay.org/about/
38. Are U.S. Avocado Buyers Financing the Cartel Conflict In Mexico? By Nathaniel Parish Flannery. Forbes April 11, 2023. Are U.S. Avocado Buyers Financing The Cartel Conflict In Mexico? (forbes.com)
39. The U.S. opioid crisis and its impact on Mexico’s drug cartel violence. Itzel de Haro Lopez. Navarra Center for International Development. March 31,2023
Full dissertation: https://itzeldhl.github.io/web-page/DeHaro_Opioid_Crisis_JMP.pdf
40. Associated Press. Mexican avocado haulers face dangers. 5 Feb 2023
Mexican avocado haulers face dangers (youtube.com)
41. Avocadoes are big business for surprising group/ Mexican drug cartels. By Karol Suárez and Cristopher Rogel Blanquet. Feb 8, 2023 .
Avocadoes are big business for surprising group: Mexican drug cartels (courierjournal.com)
42. How avocados became 'green gold' to Mexican drug cartels. Derek Miller, W5 Behind the Story, CTV News, Jan 21, 2023.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/w5/how-avocados-became-green-gold-to-mexican-drugcartels-
and-a-deeper-dive-into-the-pivot-airlines-saga-1.6239107
43. Green Gold/ How Mexican Drug Cartels are Profiting From Avocados — Aug 16,2022 FINTRAIL
https://fintrail.com/news/green-gold-how-mexican-drug-cartels-areprofitingfromavocados#.
44. The Times podcast: How violence taints Mexican avocados. Gustavo Arellano, Host. Los Angeles Times , Feb 24, 2022
The Times podcast: How violence taints Mexican avocados - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)
45. Mexico's Avocado Militia | SBS Dateline
Mexico's Avocado Militia | SBS Dateline (youtube.com)
46. Mexico cartels blamed for squeezing avocado industry. By Michael R. Malone. News at the U. University of Miami 02-22-2022
Mexico cartels blamed for squeezing avocado industry (miami.edu
47. Mexican drug cartels are getting into the avocado and lime business. By Scott Simon and Emily Green / NPR. February 19, 2022
Mexican drug cartels are getting into the avocado and lime business : NPR
48. Your Super Bowl guacamole may be harming Mexico’s forests. By Benji Jones. Vox Feb 13,2022
Your Super Bowl guacamole may be harming Mexico’s forests – Vox
49. Socio-environmental impacts of the avocado boom in the Meseta Purepecha, Michoacan, Mexico. Alfonso De la Vega-Rivera and Leticia Merino-Perez. Sustainability 2021, 13(13), 7247. 29 June 2021 https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/13/7247
50. Blood Avocados: Cartel violence over licit industries in Mexico. Megan Erickson and Lucas Owen. University of Washington Political Economy Forum, June 9, 2020. https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/sites.uw.edu/dist/0/7926/files/2020/08/Erickson__Owen_2020_06_092.pdf
51. The commons, community and conservation. https://news.mongabay.com/2020/03/the-commons-community-and-conservation-qa-with-anthropologist-leticia-merino/ 6 Mar 2020
52. Will Mexico’s Growing Avocado Industry Harm Its Forests? Mauricio Mondragón and Valeria López Portillo Purata. February 4, 2020
https://www.wri.org/insights/will-mexicos-growing-avocado-industry-harm-its-forests
53. Mexico’s bloody fight over avocados. Franz Viohl. Deutsche Welle. February 3, 2020
https://www.dw.com/en/mexicos-bloody-fight-over-avocados/a-52606013
54. Violence in Mexico peaks as cartels fight over drugs and avocados. By Kate Linthicum. Los Angeles Times, Nov 21, 2019
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-11-20/mexico-cartel-violenceavocados
55. Rotten. 2019 Netflix documentary series.
Watch Rotten | Netflix Official Site
56. The Avocado Wars : Fruits of conflict| Adrienne Mattei NUVO June 27, 2016
https://nuvomagazine.com/magazine/summer-2016/the-avocado-wars