Illicit Drugs and Organized Crime in Latin America

Abstract

Abstract Illicit drugs have long affected public security, social relations, and politics in Latin America. Until recently, the analysis of illicit drugs primarily focused on Colombia and, to some extent, Mexico, and most scholarship was policy-oriented, dealing with the influence of the US and the Global Drug Prohibition Regime. In recent years, the scholarship has expanded its theoretical and methodological approaches as well as its geographical scope. This chapter analyzes key contributions emerging from new research: the mapping of the political, social, and economic constellations of actors and discourses that sustain policies related to illicit drugs; the critical revision of certain assumptions, fostering a more nuanced understanding of the multiple social and political relations involved in illicit drug markets; and greater attention to how illicit and licit actors relate, including unpacking the links between state actors and criminal groups.