Saint Death by Marcus Sedgwick

The story in this book, about a young man named Arturo is just a backdrop for the author to explain the political situation on the Texas/Mexico border.  He uses his main character, who lives in abject poverty and has an old friend who becomes involved in the drug trade to explain the drug trade.  The main character's mother worked for a maquiladora, a Mexican sweatshop owned by Americans,which is explained in the book as well. The story of Arturo is the story of many poor people in Mexico whose lives are ruled by those who have money and power.  The book is quite political.