Drug war Mexico : politics, neoliberalism and violence in the new narcoeconomy / Peter Watt and Roberto Zepeda.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 236-248) and index.

Print version record.

About the Authors; Figures and Tables; Figures; Tables; Abbreviations; Acknowledgements; Map; Introduction; 1 Drug Trafficking in Mexico -- History and Background; Trafficking in the Early Twentieth Century; The Impact of Economic Integration, Capitalist Expansion and Changes in Land Ownership; The Post-Revolutionary Government and Smuggling; The Cold War Period; 2 Cold War Expansion of the Trade and the Repression of Dissent; The Other Operation Condor; 3 The Political Economy of the 'War on Drugs'; Traffickers and the PRI; Consumption in Mexico.

The Economy, Free Trade, the Washington Consensus and the CartelsUS Involvement in Mexico; 4 Getting Rich Quick -- and Those Who Didn't; 'Un Político Pobre es un Pobre Político' (A Politician Who is Poor is a Poor Politician); 4.1 Number of parastatal enterprises in Mexico, 1930-1994; Figure 4.1. Number of parastatal enterprises in Mexico, 1930-1994; NAFTA; 4.1 NAFTA, European Union and China, 2006; 4.2 Main features of NAFTA members, 2006; Table 4.1 NAFTA, European Union and China, 2006; Table 4.2 Main features of NAFTA members, 2006; 'A Guy of Absolute Unquestioned Integrity'

'The Zapatistas Have to be Eliminated'5 El Cambio (The Change); Democratisation; 5.1 Governorship in Mexico by political party, 2011; Figure 5.1 Governorship in Mexico by political party, 2011; 5.1 Composition of the Senate by political party, 1982-2006; 5.2 Composition of the Chamber of Deputies by political party in Mexico, 1988-2006; Table 5.1 Composition of the Senate by political party, 1982-2006; Table 5.2 Composition of the Chamber of Deputies by political party,1988-2006; 5.2 Number of votes by party in the presidential elections, 1988-2006.

Figure 5.2 Number of votes by party in the presidential elections, 1988-2006Economic Factors; 5.3 GDP growth rates in selected Latin American countries, 1980-2005; Table 5.3 GDP growth rates in selected Latin American countries,1980-2005; 5.3 GDP growth by decades in Mexico, 1940-2010; Figure 5.3 GDP growth by decades in Mexico, 1940-2010; 5.4 Maquiladora and non-Maquiladora jobs in Mexico, 1980-2006; Figure 5.4 Maquiladora and non-maquiladora jobs in Mexico, 1980-2006; Unemployment; 'We All Seem to Know This Except for the Authorities'; 6 War is Peace.

6.1 Number of homocides related to narcotrafficking in Mexico, 2006-2011Figure 6.1 Number of homicides related to narcotrafficking in Mexico, 2006-2011; 'A Danger for Mexico'; Violent Crime and Human Rights; 6.1 Government spending on security-related institutions; Table 6.1 Government spending on security-related institutions; 6.2 List of the most wanted narcotraffickers in Mexico, with data of captures to November 2011; Table 6.2 List of the most wanted narcotraffickers in Mexico, with data of captures to November 2011; 6.3 Rise in crime, 2007 and 2010.

Mexico is in crisis. During the neoliberal era, narcotrafficking has flourished to become one of the country's biggest sources of revenue, as well as its most violent, with over 12,000 drug-related executions in 2011 alone. This insightful, controversial book throws new light on the situation, contending that the 'war on drugs' in Mexico is in fact a pretext for a US-backed strategy to bolster unpopular neoliberal policies, a weak yet authoritarian government and a radically unfair status quo.

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