Organized Crime and Democratic Governability: Mexico and the U.S. -Mexico Borderlands (Pitt Latin American (Hardcover))

The US-Mexico border zone in now one of the most dangerous in the world. The range of criminal activity at the border now extends beyond drugs to include the smuggling of arms, people, vehicles, and environmentally dangerous substances. This title defines the reality of the situation. The United States-Mexico border zone is one of the busiest and most dangerous in the world. NAFTA and rapid industrialization on the Mexican side have brought trade, travel, migration, and consequently, organized crime and corruption to the region on an unprecedented scale. Until recently, crime at the border was viewed as a local law enforcement problem with drug trafficking—a matter of'beefing'up police and'hardening'the border. At the turn of the century, that limited perception has changed. The range of criminal activity at the border now extends beyond drugs to include smuggling of arms, people, vehicles, financial instruments, environmentally dangerous substances, endangered species, and archeological objects. Such widespread trafficking involves complex, high-level criminal-political alliances that local lawenforcement alone can't address. Researchers of the region, as well as officials from both capitals, now see the border as a set of systemic problems that threaten the economic, political, and social health of their countries as a whole. Organized Crime and Democratic Governability brings together scholars and specialists, including current and former government officials, from both sides of the border to trace the history and define the reality of this situation. Their diverse perspectives place the issue of organized crime in historical, political, economic, and cultural contexts unattainable by single-author studies. Contributors examine broad issues related to the political systems of both countries, as well as the specific actors—crime gangs, government officials, prosecutors, police, and the military—involved in the ongoing drama of the border. Editors Bailey and Godson provide an interpretive frame, a'continuum of governability,'that will guide researchers and policymakers toward defining goals and solutions to the complex problem that, along with a border, the United States and Mexico now share. Contents 6 List of Tables and Illustrations 8 Acknowledgments 10 1. Introduction / John Bailey and Roy Godson 14 Part I - Crime and Governability in Mexico 44 2. The Nexus of Organized Crime and Politics in Mexico / Stanley A. Pimentel 46 3. Organized Crime and the Organization of Crime / Luis Astorga 71 4. Organized Crime and Political Campaign Finance in Mexico / Leonardo Curzio 96 5. Scope and Limits of an Act of Good Faith: The PAN’s Experience at the Head of the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic / Sigrid Arzt 116 6. Containing Armed Groups, Drug Trafficking, and Organized Crime in Mexico: The Role of the Military / Raúl Benítez Manaut 139 Part II - Crime and Governability in the U.S.-Mexican Borderlands 172 7. The Historical Dynamics of Smuggling in the U.S.-Mexican Border Region, 1550–1998: Reflections on Markets, Cultures, and Bureaucracies / Louis R. Sadler 174 8. Organized Crime and Democratic Governability at the U.S.-Mexico Border: Border Zone Dynamics / Francisco Javier Molina Ruiz 190 9. Mexican Drug Syndicates in California / Elias Castillo and Peter Unsinger 212 10. Conclusion / John Bailey and Roy Godson 230 Notes 238 About the Contributors 272 Index 276 Organized Crime and Democratic Governability brings together scholars and specialists, including current and former government officials, from both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border to trace the history and define the reality of this situation.