MODUS OPERANDI: The Mexican Police´s Rampant Mess (original) (raw)

Mexico: a Case of Hybrid Warfare

in Robert Tomes, Paul Brister, and Thomas Schiller, eds., “Hybrid Warfare: Transnational Threats and Policy Choices for an Era of Persistent Conflict” (Center for Emerging National Security Affairs: 2011)

Organized Crime in Central America: The Northern Triangle

This publication attempts to create a better understanding of the nature, origins, and evolution of organized crime in Central America by examining the dynamics of organized crime in the three countries of the so-called Northern Triangle—El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras—as well as the broader regional context that links these case studies. The authors investigate the challenge organized crime poses to the state, its institutions, and governability in general. This publication is part of a series on the sub-regional dynamics of organized crime, focusing especially on the linkages between Central America, Mexico, and the Andean region as well as the growing insertion of Latin America in global transnational crime networks.

The Media-Entertainment Industry and the " War on Drugs " in Mexico

Since 2006, Mexico has militarized its " war on drugs, " backed by the United States. Examination of this drug war from a critical political economic angle suggests that the neoliberal reforms implemented in Mexico over the past several decades have increased the size of the drug industry and that drug war rhetoric facilitates the containment of popular opposition to neoliberal policies. U.S. popular culture has contributed to legitimizing the drug war and making it more acceptable to the U.S. public. An analysis of selected movies, television series, and a video game shows that the themes presented in these productions are very similar to those conveyed by U.S. government officials and mainstream analysts. Indeed, popular culture messages reflect elite views of U.S. foreign policy because the media-entertainment industry is itself part of the corporate establishment. Desde 2006, México, con el apoyo de los Estados Unidos, ha militarizado su " guerra contra el narcotráfico. " Una crítica de esta guerra contra el narco de un punto de vista político-económico sugiere que las reformas neoliberales implementadas en México durante ya varias décadas han agrandado la industria de estupefacientes, y que la retórica de la guerra contra el narco facilita la contención de la oposición popular que se opone a la política neoliberal. Mientras tanto, en los Estados Unidos, la cultura popular ha contri-buido a legitimar y hacer más aceptable la guerra contra el narco. Un análisis de películas y series de televisión seleccionadas, más un juego de video, muestra que los temas presen-tados en estas producciones son muy parecidos a los difundidos por oficiales del gobierno de Estados Unidos y analistas convencionales. De hecho, los mensajes de la cultura popular reflejan las perspectivas de la élite con respecto a la política exterior de los Estados Unidos porque los mismos medios de entretenimiento forman parte del establecimiento corporativo.