Criminal Insurgencies In Mexico And The Americas

In recent years, the south-western border of the United States has come under increasing pressure from the activities of Mexican narco-insurgents. These insurgents have developed rapidly from beginnings as nebulous gangs into networked cartels that have exposed the porosity of the border. These cartels declare no allegiance to any nation and are engaging in asymmetrical warfare against sovereign states throughout Mexico and in Central America. Within such states, de facto political control is shifting to the cartels in the ‘areas of impunity’ that have emerged. This book addresses these concerns and focuses on the criminal insurgencies being waged by the gangs and cartels. It is divided into sections on theory, Mexico, and the Americas and contains a number of introductory essays pertaining to this premier security threat to the United States and her allies in the region. Topics covered include criminal and spiritual insurgency, cartel weapons, corruption, feral cities, Los Zetas, politicized gangs, and threat analysis in Central America. This book will be a valuable resource to scholars in the fields of regional security, criminal justice and American Studies. It will be of great benefit to military and civil policymakers and practitioners in the areas of law enforcement and counternarcotics. This book was published as a special issue of Small Wars and Insurgencies.

In sum, this anthology represents some of the best and brightest scholars of today who are writing on the evolving security environment in Mexico and the implications this may hold for the United States. They have greatly enhanced our understanding of crime wars and criminal insurgencies—21st century war and conflict waged by non-state entities— and the impact this new form of warfare is having on states. For this, we embrace them and have established the new SWJ El Centro forum to further promote their professionalism and scholarship. Dave Dilegge SWJ Editor-in-Chief

The 4th Small Wars Journal—El Centro anthology comes at a pivotal time, roughly a third of the way through the term, for the Enrique Peña Nieto administration in Mexico. The mass kidnapping and execution of 43 rural student teachers in Iguala, Guerrero in late September 2014 has only served to further highlight the corruptive effects of organized crime on the public institutions in that country. In addition, many other states in Latin America are now suffering at the hands of criminal insurgents who are threatening their citizens and challenging their sovereign rights. Dave Dilegge, SWJ Editor-in-Chief

‘War’ is no exaggeration in discussing the bloodshed that has terrorized Mexico in the past decades. As rival cartels battle for control of a billion-dollar drug trade, the body count - 23,000 dead in five years - and sheer horror beggar the imagination of journalistic witnesses. Cartel gunmen have attacked schools and rehabilitation centers, and murdered the entire families of those who defy them. Reformers and law enforcement officials have been gunned down within hours of taking office. Headless corpses are dumped on streets to intimidate rivals, and severed heads are rolled onto dancefloors as messages to would-be opponents. And the war is creeping northward, towards the United States. El Narco is the story of the ultraviolent criminal organizations that have turned huge areas of Mexico into a combat zone. It is a piercing portrait of a drug trade that turns ordinary men into mass murderers, as well as a diagnosis of what drives the cartels and what gives them such power. Veteran Mexico correspondent Ioan Grillo traces the gangs from their origins as smugglers to their present status as criminal empires. The narco cartels are a threat to the Mexican government - and their violence has now reached as far as North Carolina. El Narco is required reading for anyone concerned about one of the most important news stories of the decade.

In recent years, the south-western border of the United States has come under increasing pressure from the activities of Mexican narco-insurgents. These insurgents have developed rapidly from beginnings as nebulous gangs into networked cartels that have exposed the porosity of the border. These cartels declare no allegiance to any nation and are engaging in asymmetrical warfare against sovereign states throughout Mexico and in Central America. Within such states, de facto political control is shifting to the cartels in the ‘areas of impunity’ that have emerged. This book addresses these concerns and focuses on the criminal insurgencies being waged by the gangs and cartels. It is divided into sections on theory, Mexico, and the Americas and contains a number of introductory essays pertaining to this premier security threat to the United States and her allies in the region. Topics covered include criminal and spiritual insurgency, cartel weapons, corruption, feral cities, Los Zetas, politicized gangs, and threat analysis in Central America. This book will be a valuable resource to scholars in the fields of regional security, criminal justice and American Studies. It will be of great benefit to military and civil policymakers and practitioners in the areas of law enforcement and counternarcotics. This book was published as a special issue of Small Wars and Insurgencies.

For decades, the United States, and its partner Latin American nations, have fought to stop the flow of illicit drugs from South America to the streets of North America, yet the drugs continue to feed the addiction of the 5.8 million cocaine users in the United States today. The Unites States has confronted the problem at all levels-- primarily demand reduction, source eradication, and interdiction. While addressing demand and supply are critical to ending the international drug trade, the transit zone countries of Mexico and Central America are caught in a crossfire of widespread violence, corruption, and weakened state security perpetuated by this multi-billion dollar drug industry. The situation in the region has regressed beyond criminal activity to a drug-fueled state of siege--a criminal insurgency, which has directly threatened the lawfulness and security of transit zone countries. This paper examines the drug war in Central America and Mexico, highlighting its similarities to other insurgencies, and offers ideas on how to apply counterinsurgency doctrine to influence the effort to deny secure transshipment points to drug cartels. In doing so, this paper highlights both the intellectual and physical linkages between the commonly accepted military history of insurgencies and the history of the fight against drug trafficking organizations. To that end the United States, Mexico, and Central America need to challenge drug trafficking organizations and gangs through a regional counterinsurgency strategy that denies impunity for drug cartels, and enables Central American and Mexican governments to reestablish the legitimacy of their governing and legal institutions and regain control over all of their territory for the long term.CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION * CHAPTER 2 - BRIEF HISTORY OF CONFLICT AND DRUG TRAFFICKING: THE ROAD TO TODAY'S DILEMMA * Generations of Conflict and Drug Trafficking: a Training Ground for Criminals * Squeezing the Balloon: Central America and Mexico Become DTO's Preferred Route * CHAPTER 3 - DRUG CARTELS, DRUG GANGS, AND INSURGENCIES * Defining Criminal Insurgency * Three Phases of Insurgency and the DTO Connection * Linking Drug Gangs and Insurgency * Mexican Drug Cartels: The Criminal-Insurgency Leadership * Lessons from Colombia's Insurgency * CHAPTER 4 - DEFEATING THE DTOS: A UNIFIED COIN APPROACH * Aligning Drug Control Strategy with COIN Doctrine * The Merida Initiative: Unprecedented Cooperation in Need of a Full Commitment * CHAPTER 5 - CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS * Central America and Mexico's History Provides Key Roots of Today's Dilemma * DTO and Gang Links to Insurgency Provide a New Lens to View the Problem * Colombia's Insurgency Offers Applicable Lessons for Central America and Mexico * Drug Control Strategy and COIN Doctrine Need to be Leveraged * BIBLIOGRAPHY

"Essential reading."-Steve Coll, NewYorker.com A gripping, sobering account of how Mexican drug gangs have transformed into a criminal insurgency that threatens the nation's democracy and reaches across to the United States. The world has watched, stunned, the bloodshed in Mexico. Forty thousand murdered since 2006; police chiefs shot within hours of taking office; mass graves comparable to those of civil wars; car bombs shattering storefronts; headless corpses heaped in town squares. And it is all because a few Americans are getting high. Or is it part of a worldwide shadow economy that threatens Mexico's democracy? The United States throws Black Hawk helicopters, DEA assistance, and lots of money at the problem. But in secret, Washington is at a loss. Who are these mysterious figures who threaten Mexico's democracy? What is El Narco? El Narco is not a gang; it is a movement and an industry drawing in hundreds of thousands, from bullet-riddled barrios to marijuana-covered mountains. The conflict spawned by El Narco has given rise to paramilitary death squads battling from Guatemala to the Texas border (and sometimes beyond). In this "propulsive ... high-octane" book (Publishers Weekly), Ioan Grillo draws the first definitive portrait of Mexico's cartels and how they have radically transformed.

"Gives readers an overview of the issues associated with drugs, cartels, and gangs in Mexico and Central America. The readings are based on years of field research and interviews with regional leaders and local actors. The book examines the history and growth of Mexican drug cartels and the central role corruption plays in facilitating drug trafficking while simultaneously debilitating the Mexican state's efforts to confront them. The rise of Mexican community-based crime fighting is also discussed, as well as the changing role of Central American gangs, particularly in their relationship with Mexican drug-trafficking organizations. This edition includes new readings that feature current data and statistics on Mexican drug cartels and Central American gang violence, as well as an evaluation of Mexico's response to events in Jalisco from 2015-2018. Highly accessible, yet replete with valuable information and insight ... is ideal for courses in criminal justice, homeland security, and Latin American studies." -- Page 4 of cover.