Mexican Drug Cartels Research Articles

The New Wave: Forced Displacement Caused by Organized Crime in Central America and Mexico

Forced displacement generated by organized crime is a little-studied and poorly understood phenomenon. Based on field research carried out in 2013, this article redresses this situation by analysing the broad dynamics of an alarming new wave of forced displacement sweeping El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras – the countries of the Northern Triangle of Central America – and Mexico. It focuses specifically on the role played by three of the main types of organized criminal groups in the region – mara street gangs, Central American drug transporters, and Mexican drug cartels – in provoking this displacement. Structural differences between these groups are shown to influence both the forms of displacement that they produce and the resulting patterns of movement by displaced persons. Consideration is then devoted to the implications for scholarship and humanitarian practice of this new wave of forced displacement generated by organized criminal groups.

From business to war: Causes of transitional violence by the Mexican drug cartels

From business to war: Although illicit markets are generally peaceful, at times they burst into massive transitional violence. One example for such an upsurge in violence is Mexico where the drug cartels are engaged in a bloody war. The Mexican case reveals that two interrelated factors can incite transitional illegal violence. First, market changes that close or open up business opportunities can lead to violent criminal competition. Second, political changes can cause or increase criminal violence. When collusive state-crime relations erode and the state increases law enforcement against criminal groups, they are likely to fight back. Both factors are tightly connected: criminal competition may erode protection rackets and incite harsher law enforcement. Law enforcement in turn may lead to the fragmentation of crime groups and cause more violent competition. Massive criminal violence is fed by further factors such as the easy availability of both weapons and specialists in violence and the displacement effect of intensive law enforcement in regions characterized by weak state structures.

The Mexican Drug Cartels as Hybrid Terrorist Groups

The Mexican Drug Cartels as Hybrid Terrorist Groups

Does Crime Undermine Public Support for Democracy? Findings from the Case of Mexico

DOES CRIME UNDERMINE PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRACY? FINDINGS FROM THE CASE OF MEXICO Mary Fran T. Malone University of New Hampshire “What is at stake today is not just the result of an election, but rather the future of democracy, of representative institutions,” announced Mexican President Felipe Calderón shortly before midterm elections in July of 2009.1 Declaring that Mexico was at an historical crossroads, President Calderón cautioned that the future of democracy depended quite heavily on the outcome of his government’s fight against organized crime and corruption. Calderón’s concerns have spilled beyond Mexico’s borders. In the United States, officials have expressed alarm over the increasing tide of violence with a series of controversial statements that have angered Mexican officials. For example, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair charged that Mexican drug cartels “impede Mexico City’s ability to govern parts of its territory and build effective democratic institutions” (Blair 2009: 30).2 The media have prominently featured such statements, as the outbreak of violent crime in Mexico has dominated headlines in newspapers around the world. Such reports warn that the current crime wave is “the most serious crisis . . . faced since the 1910 Mexican Revolution and its immediate aftermath” (Krauze 2009). Indeed, since Calderón assumed office in December of 2006, over 47,000 people have died from violence related to the drug trade and organized crime.3 In Mexico, crime now shares the national limelight with economic issues . While the global economic crisis has exacerbated historic problems of poverty and inequality, national attention has increasingly focused on crime. When Mexicans were asked to name the most pressing problem facing their country in a recent national survey, crime ranked at the top of the list, together with unemployment and the economic crisis.4 In the week that Calderón gave his warning, the Mexican media coverage of crime dwarfed that of the economy, as reports on crime more than doubled those devoted to economic issues.5 Official statements warning that crime could completely destroy Mexico ’s democratic institutions are clearly exaggerated, but the current crime wave does highlight a question of growing importance throughout the developing world – what impact does crime have on democracy? To answer this question, this study examines the effects of crime on Mexican democracy , but from a different perspective than those of the headlines. The focus here is on the micro level political consequences of crime in Mexico, as this C 2012 Southeastern Council on Latin American Studies and Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 17 The Latin Americanist, June 2013 paper aims to determine whether crime can jeopardize Mexicans’ support for democracy and its norms. To this end, this paper utilizes data gathered by the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) in national surveys of Mexico in 2008.6 These surveys contain numerous questions regarding political attitudes and behavior, as well as items measuring experiences with and perceptions of crime. Thus, these data are a particularly valuable resource for examining the linkages between crime and political attitudes and behavior. To examine the micro level consequences of crime for Mexican democracy , this study proceeds in four parts. The first section provides an overview of crime trends in Mexico during the period of democratization , culminating in an examination of the current crime crisis and the responses of the Mexican government. Following this background on the Mexican case, the second portion of the paper turns to examine the literature on crime and democracy. With this theoretical framework, the third section relies upon statistical analysis to gauge the impact of crime on citizens ’ political attitudes (support for democracy and the rule of law) and political behavior (voting behavior and protest participation). The concluding section of the paper discusses the implications of the analysis for political attitudes and behavior in Mexico. Crime and Democratization: The Case of Mexican Exceptionalism Throughout the Latin American region, democratization has coincided with skyrocketing crime rates (Lafree and Tseloni 2006). As most Latin American nations made the twin transitions to neoliberal economies and democratic forms of governance throughout the 1980s and 1990s, they were plagued with rising crime rates, particularly violent crimes like homicides. Cruz (2008) finds that during this time frame...

'Libor'ing Under the Market Illusion

Sandwiched between revelations of mounting losses ($5.8 billion and rising) at JP Morgan in the face of bungled bets by a trader known as the London Whale, and allegations of money laundering for Mexican drug cartels and breaches of U.S. sanctions by HSBC, the disclosures of deliberate rigging of the Libor rate by Barclay’s Bank might appear mundane and a trifle boring in comparison. It is, however, this scandal about an arcane interest rate that most starkly exposes the rotten core of the global financial system.… [T]he scandal is not simply one of colossal greed and hubris. It is about systemic failure. It is about the fictions and illusions that form the basis of today’s complex global financial system. This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website , where most recent articles are published in full. Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.

Arrecife by Juan Villoro

148 World Literature Today reviews the context of other histories, including the ugly legacy of colonization, slavery, and personal deceits. Vassanji ’s prodigious research provides insight into certain details of the German occupation of East Africa, the Maji Maji rebellion in Tanzania (War of the Waters), the slavery of East Africans and sexual exploitation of African concubines by Indians in Africa, the export of African slaves to India, the resulting African communities in India known as Sidis, and Idi Amin’s atrocities against Asians in Uganda forcing the exodus of Asians to global destinations, including Canada . The narration of the history of Kilwa and German colonization is thrice removed, reminding readers of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim. Kamal, like many of Vassanji’s characters and the novel’s plot, is a reminder that identity, history, and memory are complex. Vassanji confounds popular understandings of history, refusing to provide readers with black-and-white answers to ambiguous historical questions. Written in poetically intense language with a keen eye for detail, Vassanji’s signature sense of humor enlivens The Magic of Saida. This reader is captivated by the mesmerizing suspense that leaves all readers wanting more from M. G. Vassanji’s magical pen. Asma Sayed University of Alberta Juan Villoro. Arrecife. Barcelona. Anagrama. 2012. isbn 9788433972359 It is no accident that Juan Villoro is classified as a postmodern author. We know that, in general, literary criticism resorts to the postmodern label when it seeks to quickly classify those works that are characterized by a fragmentary style, open endings, and an obsession with the present (mass media, sports, fashion, and entertainment ). These are works that, in other words, deal with frivolous themes in a serious manner. Within this context, Arrecife confirms that Villoro’s postmodernity , far from being an arbitrary label, is an apt classification, yet one that requires a careful reading to be understood. Arrecife’s plot is the following: An ex-rocker, Mario Müller, living in the Caribbean, sets up the Pyramid, a tourist attraction based on violent, but fake, experiences: simulated kidnappings and encounters with narcoguerrillas carried out by hired actors as well as excursions into the jungle in exotic places infested with dangerous beasts. The clients are, of course, bored American and European tourists in search of intense experiences that will shake them out of the tedium of their empty, superficial Pierre Michon The Eleven Jody Gladding & Elizabeth Deshays, tr. Archipelago Books Winner of the Grand Prix du Roman from the Académie Française, Pierre Michon’s agile, rhythmic depiction of the French Revolution is also a bildungsroman. Corentin leads a provincial life until his paintings, commissioned by Louis XV’s mistress, launch him into Parisian society (see WLT, Mar. 2010, 67). Wayne Macauley The Cook Quercus An ultimatum is delivered: youth prison or cooking school. The young protagonist chooses cooking, wanting to show he can succeed after past mistakes. Chronicling the apprenticeship of an aspiring chef, Wayne Macauley’s unique novel focuses on the culinary aspects of the setting while highlighting the personal growth of a character determined to prove himself. march–april 2013 • 149 Nota Bene lives. “The Pyramid was governed by rest, understood as isolation, and diversion, understood as risk. A place where lights and music created a suspended reality and the entertainment programs raised the heartbeat.” Everything goes well until one of the hotel divers is found murdered. From that moment, we discover that behind this exotic resort designed for frivolous tourists, where everything appears to happen in an impregnable bubble, emerges the violent reality of the Mexican drug cartels. The hidden violence that surrounds the Pyramid is the only real thing in the place. The novel takes place in a saturated postmodern environment with an abundance of damaged characters who are eccentric or simply seeking a new opportunity in life, such as Sandra , the ashtanga yoga and Tibetan kung-fu instructor who lives in Mexico illegally; Tony, the ex-drug addict who builds sound systems for the hotel aquariums with help from computers; Mario, the manager, who sees himself as a New Age guru; and Ginger, an American diver who is the member of an extreme-sport club named...

The Method by Juli Zeh

Pierre Michon The Eleven Jody Gladding & Elizabeth Deshays, tr. Archipelago Books Winner of the Grand Prix du Roman from the Académie Française, Pierre Michon’s agile, rhythmic depiction of the French Revolution is also a bildungsroman. Corentin leads a provincial life until his paintings, commissioned by Louis XV’s mistress, launch him into Parisian society (see WLT, Mar. 2010, 67). Wayne Macauley The Cook Quercus An ultimatum is delivered: youth prison or cooking school. The young protagonist chooses cooking, wanting to show he can succeed after past mistakes. Chronicling the apprenticeship of an aspiring chef, Wayne Macauley’s unique novel focuses on the culinary aspects of the setting while highlighting the personal growth of a character determined to prove himself. march–april 2013 • 149 Nota Bene lives. “The Pyramid was governed by rest, understood as isolation, and diversion, understood as risk. A place where lights and music created a suspended reality and the entertainment programs raised the heartbeat.” Everything goes well until one of the hotel divers is found murdered. From that moment, we discover that behind this exotic resort designed for frivolous tourists, where everything appears to happen in an impregnable bubble, emerges the violent reality of the Mexican drug cartels. The hidden violence that surrounds the Pyramid is the only real thing in the place. The novel takes place in a saturated postmodern environment with an abundance of damaged characters who are eccentric or simply seeking a new opportunity in life, such as Sandra , the ashtanga yoga and Tibetan kung-fu instructor who lives in Mexico illegally; Tony, the ex-drug addict who builds sound systems for the hotel aquariums with help from computers; Mario, the manager, who sees himself as a New Age guru; and Ginger, an American diver who is the member of an extreme-sport club named Cruci/ Fiction. All are drifters whose past does not matter at the Pyramid but whose destinies begin to intertwine in a web of dangerous, secret relationships once the diver is murdered. However, Arrecife is also a novel about friendship and redemption. Mario Müller has assigned himself the task of helping his friend, Tony Gongora, who has lost his memory because of drug use. The story of these two friends is also a journey to the past, during which Tony slowly reconstructs his life through his conversations with Mario. It is a difficult and painful trip, where each piece of the memory that Tony recovers can also be an experience that revives forgotten sufferings. Undeniably, Juan Villoro has found in Arrecife an effective and intelligent way of consolidating himself and being taken seriously as a postmodern author in the Spanishspeaking world. A preoccupation with postmodernity has its clear limits, and Villoro knows them well: they are restricted to the purely thematic. With Arrecife, the reader has the impression of being in the presence of an author who exerts himself to be current, to be up-to-date with the themes that characterize any postmodern society. Villoro’s style, however, has nothing fragmentary or experimental about it. This is a great achievement because, on the contrary, it is rigorously conventional . Arrecife turns out to be a deliberate and paradoxically postmodern novel. Marcelo Rioseco University of Oklahoma Juli Zeh. The Method. Sally-Ann Spencer, tr. London. Harvill Secker. 2012. isbn 9781846554278 Sympathy for a terrorist? Rebellion against preventive health-care measures ? In Germany, Juli Zeh is a highly visible political author whose fictional works, essays, and talk-show appearances call for action. Will she be able to spark increased awareness about the implications of health and security measures beyond Germany and in countries that are far from universal health care? The premise of the setting in this highly readable, dystopian novel is that in a few more decades, science and medicine will have eradicated 150 World Literature Today reviews colds, cancer, and other diseases, and pain will be a thing of the past. In order to maintain a disease-free society, the state holds far-reaching control over all citizens, resulting in a dictatorship of health and prevention based on the “method” as its principle of legitimization. The method is always capitalized, suggesting its godlike function in society...

Jerry Langton: Gangland: The rise of the Mexican drug cartels from El Paso to Vancouver

Iconic Mexican president Porfirio Diaz once stated, “Poor Mexico, so far from God, so close to the United States.” His statement neatly encapsulates a strained relationship between two neighbors. But there is an important third actor. In the larger discourse over what has happened to public security in Mexico, very few voices from Canada have emerged within a discussion largely driven by observers from Mexico and the United States. Though Gangland: The Rise of the Mexican Drug Cartels from El Paso to Vancouver falls short in focus and skips some important elements in the narrative, the distinctly Canadian voice resonates in a refreshing way that carries the reader away from the—at times—myopic focus on the US-Mexico border, or the larger issues that encompass the two neighbors. The net effect is a narrative that gently but consistently reminds us that there are more stakeholders in Mexico’s current public security challenges. The author’s perspective is most salient in the case study presented in chapter 6, Trouble in Paradise, which begins on page 86. Domenico and Annuziatta Ianiero vacationed in Cancun, Quintana Roo state, to celebrate the marriage of their daughter Liliana in 2006. To the daughter’s horror and the other guests’ surprise, unknown assailants murdered the couple in their resort room in February 2006. The murder of two Canadian citizens while sleeping in an assumed secure room inside the guarded walls of a well known resort reportedly shocked the small community of family members, observers, investigators, resort staff, and international officials charged with unraveling the mystery. The author unfolds the story with detail and strong prose in a way that presents this homicide as one of the most important public security transgressions in a year when many began counting Mexico’s current 50,000-plus homicide toll. Yet in the telling, Chapter 6 takes the reader much farther than simply dismissing the local authorities as corrupt and incompetent, as others might have done. Trends Organ Crim (2013) 16:242–244 DOI 10.1007/s12117-012-9172-2

Terrorists Next Door? A Comparison of Mexican Drug Cartels and Middle Eastern Terrorist Organizations

Drawing from interviews, surveys, and other forms of research conducted in Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank, and Mexico, this article compares Mexican cartels to Hamas and Hezbollah. The similarities between them are striking: these are all by necessity territorially specific organizations tied to relatively defined geographic locations, and have deep and sophisticated relationships with the states within which they operate. However, there are critical differences between Mexican drug cartels and Hamas and Hezbollah as well, the most important (according to an analysis of multiple definitions of terrorism) being the presence of political and ideological motivations. This analysis illustrates the conceptual challenges and classificational ambiguity involved in analyzing terrorism and organized crime.

Going Nowhere Fast (or Furious): The Nonexistent U.S. Firearms Trafficking Statute and the Rise of Mexican Drug Cartel Violence

Drug trafficking violence in Mexico, now reaching epidemic proportions, greatly impacts both the Mexican and United States governments. Despite the escalation of the "War on Drugs, " drug trafficking from Mexico to the United States continues largely unabated, stifling tourism revenue and lawful economic opportunities, and causing violence previously unknown in Mexico. Thus far, the United States' efforts to deal with this drug trafficking and violence include the recent debacle of Operation Fast and Furious. News regarding this Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives'(ATF) operation shocked citizens and lawmakers alike, as Fast and Furious allowed firearms to "walk" down to Mexico unimpeded in a futile attempt to identify firearms traffickers in Mexican drug cartels. Ultimately, this operation led to the presence of over two thousand additional firearms in Mexico, contributing to continued violence south of the U.S. border and the possibility of spillover violence back into the United States. An analysis of Operation Fast and Furious and other law enforcement attempts to stop firearms trafficking and drug cartel violence in Mexico demonstrates that the development and tactics of these operations require a more comprehensive approach to the problems facing Mexico and the United States. This Article discusses extraterritoriality, and the effects of U.S. domestic criminal laws on a foreign country, in the context of U.S. domestic firearms trafficking laws. First, this Article lays out the problem: Mexican drug cartels are receiving thousands of weapons from the United States with which to create havoc and wreak violence upon both nations. It then discusses the dynamics of that problem, which include addressing the current legal framework and the NRA lobbying effort against restrictions on firearms. The Article examines the ATF's Project Gunrunner and Operation Fast and Furious and argues that the lack of a simple and strong firearms trafficking statute contributed to ATF's decision to implement Operation Fast and Furious, thereby contributing to large numbers of firearms heading south to Mexico. The Article further argues that without a true comprehensive firearms trafficking statute, the combined efforts of the United States and Mexico to stem the southbound flow of firearms and resulting drug violence will ultimately fail. Besides seeking to contribute to the dialogue on solving a looming and important problem, this Article endeavors to promote discussion about the extraterritorial effects of U.S. domestic criminal laws. Ultimately, it argues that, in certain contexts, the positive extraterritorial effects of such laws should take priority over complaints about their negligible domestic effects.

Globalist Gangsters: Reading Mexican Drug Cartels and Russian Organized Crime

Globalist Gangsters: Reading Mexican Drug Cartels and Russian Organized Crime

Plata o plomo: penetration, the purchase of power and the Mexican drug cartels

Purpose – The paper aims to explore the penetration of power in Mexico by drug cartels and the attendant policy challenges to address the problem.

Mexico: narco-violence and a failed state?

Bloodshed connected with Mexican drug cartels, how they emerged, and their impact on the United States is the subject of this frightening book. Savage narcotics-related decapitations, castrations, and other murders have destroyed tourism in many Mexican communities and such savagery is now cascading across the border into the United States. Grayson explores how this spiral of violence emerged in Mexico, its impact on the country and its northern neighbor, and the prospects for managing it. Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) ruled in Tammany Hall fashion for seventy-nine years before losing the presidency in 2000 to the center-right National Action Party (PAN). Grayson focuses on drug wars, prohibition, corruption, and other antecedents that occurred during the PRI's hegemony. He illuminates the diaspora of drug cartels and their fragmentation, analyzes the emergence of new gangs, sets forth President Felipe Calderon's strategy against vicious criminal organizations, and assesses its relative success. Grayson reviews the effect of narcotics-focused issues in U.S.-Mexican relations. He considers the possibility that Mexico may become a failed state, as feared by opinion-leaders, even as it pursues an aggressive but thus far unsuccessful crusade against the importation, processing, and sale of illegal substances. Becoming a 'failed state' involves two dimensions of state power: its scope, or the different functions and goals taken on by governments, and its strength, or the government's ability to plan and execute policies. The Mexican state boasts an extensive scope evidenced by its monopoly over the petroleum industry, its role as the major supplier of electricity, its financing of public education, its numerous retirement and health-care programs, its control of public universities, and its dominance over the armed forces. The state has not yet taken control of drug trafficking, and its strength is steadily diminishing. This explosive book is thus a study of drug cartels, but also state disintegration.

Strategic threat: narcos and narcotics overview

This introductory essay provides a strategic overview of the threat posed by the largest Mexican drug cartels (The Federation, Gulf, Juárez, and Tijuana), and affiliated mercenary groups and street and prison gangs, to the United States. Cartel areas of operation in both Mexico and the United States are highlighted along with linkages to affiliated enforcers and gangs such as Los Zetas, the Mexican Mafia (La Eme), and Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). The illegal economies of these threat groups – ranging from narcotics trafficking through commodities smuggling and theft, extortion and kidnapping, weapons trafficking, and street taxation – is discussed. The trans-operational environments involving US engagement with the Mexican cartels, mercenaries, and their Sureños affiliates is then characterized. Lastly, individual contributions to this work are summarized.

Redefining Terrorism: Why Mexican Drug Trafficking is More than Just Organized Crime

Mexican drug traffickers are more than criminals. They are terrorists. And that's not hyperbole. The tactics, strategy, organization, and even (to a limited extent) the goals of the Mexican drug cartels are all perfectly consistent with those of recognized terrorist organizations. Admittedly, the cartels lack the motivating political or religious ideology most terrorist groups display, and some argue this precludes the application of the "terrorist" label. However, we will show this objection is inclusive at best. Were the United States government to formally recognize the Mexican cartels as the terrorists they are—or at least hybrid organizations that employ terrorist tactics—a more effective range of options would become available for combating the cartels and curtailing the violence that todayengulfs the US/Mexico borderlands.