Customer Reviews

Mexico: Narco-Violence and a Failed State?

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One of the greatest fallacies committed today amongst those who discuss and write about organized crime in Mexico is a limited understanding of Mexico's political history, especially how and why the country's leaders have engaged with criminals actors for decades. George Grayson's review of this history is a crisp, concise explanation that expertly frames Mexico today: a country struggling to confront unprecedented narco-violence. Grayson layers this historical backdrop with a full account of Mexican organized crime; it is one of the most thorough discussions of Mexican organized crime that I have ever seen, in English or Spanish. This book is a must read for anyone interested to know why thousands dies in Mexico every year and what we can expect to see in Mexico for the rest of President Calderon's term and beyond.

Few American academics writing about Mexico today know more about security, electoral politics, drug-trafficking and criminal violence issues than George Grayson. Mexico, Narco-Violence and a Failed State? addresses the significant consequences of each in a lively and provocative manner, providing revealing, current, and controversial insights into their impact on its political stability, social fabric, and relations with the United States. Anyone hoping to grasp the difficult, multiple, and complex aspects of drug trafficking in our southern neighbor should read this book.

This is a very interesting book, with excellent material and lots of valuable information. It definetely shows that the author has done extensive research on the subject, and it provides a good overview of the historical elements that led Mexico to this violent war, and the role the United States has played.

There are, however, several mistakes. Some are simple factual errors, one of them already in the first page, some simply grammatical errors and misspelling of spanish phrases. One upsetting aspect is that chapter 1 has a section missing, probably due to a printing error, so one parapragh cuts off on one page, and the following page begins a whole new section. You may want to wait until a new corrected batch is printed, or a new edition is published.

Other than that, I recommend the book for anyone interested in learning the basics of the Mexican Cartel wars.

Fictional thrillers just can't quite compare with George Grayson's real world examination of the narcotics empires of Mexico. His contribution to Mexican history and an understanding of its political culture makes it even more valuable. It really ought to be read by anyone with an interest in Mexico. At my advanced age there are very few books for which I burn the midnight oil while reading. This one is near the top of the list.

Although, I think the title seems a bit of a hyperbole, I'm a third done with the book. Although its a bit dry at times, I can applaud the author on his scholarly penmanship. With good sourcing and accurate historical factual data the author seems to have put in a fair bit of effort in researching.

This scholarly work is very useful in providing an understanding of the ongoing conflict between the disparate cartels and the Mexican state. Grayson provides a context for this conflict by discussing the anatomy of the illicit economy itself and how it frames the current conflict, the origins of the trafficking of illicit substances, the cartels and their predecessors, and how changes in the political system of the Mexican state had a profound influence on the development and evolution of the criminal organizations that are the cartels of today. Grayson makes clear that the burgeoning power of the cartels, violence, corruption and myriad other problems in Mexico exist on a societal level and stem largely from the incomptetence and culture of corruption of the Mexican government.

The bulk of the book is a narrative of the activities of the cartels, problems beleaguering the Mexican state (which stem largely from failings in governance), how the perpetuation of these problems are potentially symptomatic of state failure, and the Mexican governments's response to these issues. In response to the ever-increasing magnitude of these problems, the Mexican government has embarked on a campaign to reform on a previously unseen scale. Grayson provides a critique of policies adopted by both the US and Mexico in response to these problems.

Grayson also discusses in detail the cartels themselves: their structure, constituents, modus operandi, territories and the way they interact with each other, the state and the citizenry. These cartels have grown immensely wealthy from cocaine trafficking and as a result wield a dispropotionately great deal of power. Their wealth has allowed them to develop drug production infrastructure, purchase vast amounts of weapons and corrupt law enforcement and public officials.

Mexico has been divided into a mosaic of warring cartels, who compete with the state and each other for dominance. The power of the cartels has increased to the point where some directly challenge the state for control, highlighting the danger the Mexico is in of becoming a failed state. In the case of these cartels, there seems to have been a natural progression from organized crime to terrorism to insurgency. This shift in tactics was catalyzed by the continued accrual of power, a direct result of massive revenue generated by trafficking illicit goods. The steady influx of money into the funds of the cartels as a result of this trade is used by the cartels to bankroll conflict: weapons, vehicle and communications equipment procural, recruitment, training and hiring of mercenaries (GAFES, Kaibiles). These assets, procured via money, are utilized to combat the Mexican law enforcement and military forces as well as rival cartels directly; to assert and maintain their dominance in territories under their control; and to coerce the general populace both physically and psychologically. The cartels have also adopted a population-centric approach. They either attempt to gain support largely through public works projects or pro-cartel, anti-rival, anti-government propoganda, or attempt to coerce the populace via mass murder, extortion, kidnapping, bribery and terrorism. They have also expanded their operations into many of America's major urban centers, including New York, Chicago, Atlanta and San Francisco. This upsurge in power and violence has, amongst other things, led to the militarization of Mexican drug policy enforcement.

Actions of foreign entities such as the US government and Colombian cartels are also shown to have a significant impact of the situation in Mexico throughout the years: the US through its foreign policy and counternarcotics operations; the Colombian cartels, as primary suppliers of cocaine, through their responses to counternarcotics operations and their business transactions with the Mexican cartels.

The problems in Mexico are shown to be complex and multifaceted and have a direct impact on American national securtity. The majority of major drug trafficking routes run through Mexico into the US, who is the primary consumer. In addition to importing drugs and precursor materials from a host of foreign countries in order to sell primarily in the US, the Mexican cartels have constructed their own drug production and distribution infrastructures, which exacerbates the problem.

I found this book to be extremely informative. Grayson provides a context and a history that allows those unfamiliar to the enormous complexity and implications of the conflict for control between the Mexican state and the narco cartels. He also shows why what is going on in Mexico is important (or should be important) to both the average citizen, especially those in urban centers with significant narco activity and border areas, and policymakers in the US. Better maps should have been included. 5 stars for the tremendous informative value, 3 for the read.

NOTE:

*on page 30 Grayson states that "The "live and let live" ethos that enveloped these activities [activities of the narcos] began to change in the 1980s and 1990s when oppertunities to make vast fortunes mushroomed because of changing routes for cocaine trafficking - a phenomenon that coincided with an upsurge in PAN electoral victories." Shifts in trafficking routes as a result of the reorganization of law enforcement agencies and their jurisdictions under the PAN, granting these authorities greater autonomy and increasing their propensity for corruption by narco dollars, may have had some influence on the profitibility of cocaine trafficking, but Grayson omits the primary contributing factors to the vast increase in profitability: a surge in demand in America for cocaine after the introduction of crack cocaine to American urban centers, and that this increase in profitability was compounded by the Reagan administration's subsequent anti-drug legislation.

According to Bruce and Hayes in Hostage Nation: Colombia's Guerrilla Army and the Failed War on Drugs, "In the early 1980s, the white powder [cocaine] that had once been a white-collar drug exploded into American inner cities in the form of crack cocaine. By 1985, the use of cocaine among young adults reached an all-time high with over 8 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 24 and 6 percent of those between the ages of 25 and 34 admitting to the use of the drug. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan called drug abuse "a repudiation of everything America is" and implored Americans to join the "national crusade against drugs." With the increasing fervor over the issue, the US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly (378-16) in favor of a $1.7 billion Omnibus Drug Bill." ("Hostage Nation" page 47)

The impact of these factors on the profitability of cocaine trafficking was twofold:

1) per supply and demand, the surge in demand for cocaine and its derivatives in America as a result of more widespread use stimulated the increase in profitability

2) The US government's response to the upsurge of drug use was more or less an extension and expansion of Nixon's "War on Drugs". The Reagan administrstion increased the degree of illegality of drugs via the the "national crusade against drugs", passed the Omnibus Drug Bill and further emphasised the supply-side approach. These new measures further compounded the revenue generated from cocaine trafficking. Illegality increases risk which increases price which, given that demand is fairly constant, increases profitability. It is in this way that there is a direct relationship between illegality and profitability. "Illegality creates obscene profits that finance the murderous tactics of the drug lords; illegality leads to the corruption of law enforcement officials; illegality monopolizes the efforts of honest law forces so that they are starved for resources to fight the simpler crimes of robbery, theft and assault." (Milton Friedman, Nobel Laureate economist)

Therefore, to attribute the increase in profitability of cocaine trafficking only to changes in trafficking routes as a result of PAN reorganization of law enforcement structure as Grayson does on page 30, and to not address the significant upsurge in crack cocaine consumption in the US and the subsequent anti-drug legislation and its effect on demand, is inaccurate and misleading. This assertion by Grayson allows him to level criticism more directly at the Mexican state and its complicity in the debacle it currently finds itself in.

this book is excellent for anyone who want to know where the current drug war in mexico stands and what has happened.