Violence on the “Forgotten” Border: Mexico's Drug War, the State, and the Paramilitarization of Organized Crime in Tamaulipas in a “New Democratic Era”

Abstract

This article explains the high levels of violence on the Mexican side of the Texas–Tamaulipas border. The study finds that the recent violence increase in this region—referred to as the “forgotten border” in this writing—has been the result of the following factors: a new configuration of organized crime in a new democratic era, the separation of the Zetas from the Gulf Cartel, the security strategy of the Mexican government, a stagnant economy, and rampant corruption. These conditions have contributed to the gradual loss of the “monopoly” of the legitimate use of violence by the State in some regions of Mexico, particularly in Tamaulipas.