Democracia local, crimen y violencia en México: el caso de Apatzingán, Michoacán
| Autor | Jerjes Aguirre - Hugo Herrera |
| Cargo | Profesor de la Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo. Morelia, Michoacán, México -Profesor de la Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo. Morelia, Michoacán, México |
| Páginas | 656-674 |
AGUIRRE, Jerjes; HERRERA, Hugo. “Local democracy, crime and violence in
Mexico: The case of Apatzingán, Michoacán”.
Polít. crim. Vol. 11, Nº 22 (Diciembre 2016), Art. 9, pp. 656-674.
[http://www.politicacriminal.cl/Vol_11/n_22/Vol11N22A9.pdf]
656
Local democracy, crime and violence in Mexico:
The case of Apatzingán, Michoacán
Democracia local, crimen y violencia en México:
el caso de Apatzingán, Michoacán
Dr. Jerjes Aguirre Ochoa
jerjes_99@yahoo.com
Dr. Hugo Amador Herrera Torres
hugoht@fevaq.net
Profesores de la Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo.
Morelia, Michoacán, México.
Resumen
En este trabajo se analiza la relación entre crimen organizado y gobierno municipal en
México. Se estudia específicamente el caso del municipio de Apatzingán en el estado de
Michoacán a partir de un análisis cualitativo que revela la profundidad histórica de
debilidad institucional en México y la falta de consolidación de las instituciones
democráticas; dos condiciones que han creado un entorno propicio para las actividades de
grupos delictivos. Esto es particularmente claro en los gobiernos municipales mexicanos. A
nivel de gobierno local es necesario fortalecer las instituciones gubernamentales y el Estado
de Derecho y aplicar una estrategia que ataque las causas estructurales de la violencia.
Asimismo, es necesario analizar el fenómeno de la violencia desde perspectivas
sociológicas que consideren la inequidad y desigualdades sociales existentes.
Palabras clave: Crimen, imperio de la ley, México.
Abstract
This paper analyzes the relationship between organized crime and municipal governments
in Mexico. Specifically, we study the case of the municipality of Apatzingán in the state of
Michoacán from a qualitative perspective that reveals the historical depth of institutional
weakness in Mexico and the lack of consolidation of democratic institutions; two
conditions that have created an enabling environment for the activities of criminal groups.
This is particularly clear at the level of municipal government, and underlines the need to
strengthen government institutions and the rule of law, and to implement strategies that
attack the structural causes of violence. It is also necessary to analyze the phenomenon of
violence from sociological perspectives that consider existing socioeconomic inequalities.
Key words: Crime, rule of law, Mexico.
AGUIRRE, Jerjes; HERRERA, Hugo. “Local democracy, crime and violence in
Mexico: The case of Apatzingán, Michoacán”.
657
Introduction
The violence caused by organized crime in Mexico constitutes a serious threat to security
both there and in the United States. According to figures from Mexico’s Public Security
System for the 2007-2012 period, 104,794 homicides were registered as resulting from
violent acts associated with organized crime. These figures correspond to the presidential
administration of Felipe Calderon. During the current administration of President Enrique
Peña Nieto (2013-2015), 50,998 homicides have been registered to date1.
This means that from 2007-to-2015 there have been more than 155,000 victims of violence.
When these data are added to the constantly-rising figures related to drug use in the U.S.2,
the only conclusion that can be drawn is that the strategies implemented on both sides of
the U.S./Mexico border to combat drugs have failed to produce the expected results. The
measures deployed against criminal organizations by the Mexican government have not
significantly reduced violence or drug-trafficking to U.S. markets, while the mounting
death toll in Mexico caused by violence related to drug-trafficking is shocking and painful
for Mexican society.
The discussion of violence originating from drug-trafficking in Mexico has been dominated
by a vision that centers on police and military action but demonstrates little comprehension
of the profound and pivotal political and economic issues that underlie this terrible plague.
Mexico’s strategy centered on capturing or eliminating (i.e., killing) the major criminal
kingpins in the country. Somehow, it was thought that eradicating criminal bosses would
decrease violence and eventually slow the entry of drugs into the U.S. But the result has
been the fragmentation of cartels and fierce in-fighting for control of drug organizations
and trade routes. Most of the deaths mentioned above can be attributed to these
circumstances3.
There is abundant literature that explains or connects violence caused by drug-trafficking in
Mexico with the corruption and weakness of the Mexican State4_5_6_7_8. However, these
1 SECRETARIADO DEL SISTEMA NACION AL DE SEGURIDAD PÚBLICA (SESNSP) , Estadística
delictiva México, (2015), available from
http://www.estadisticadelictiva.secretariadoejecutivo.gob.mx/mondrian/ [15.02 .2016].
2 NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE, Nationwide Trends, (2015), available from
https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/nationwide-trends [15.0 2.2016].
3 RIOS, Viridiana, “Why did Mexico become so violent? A self-reinforcing violent equilibriu m caused by
competition and enforcement”, Trends in Or ganized Crime, 16(2), (2014), pp 138-155, p. 143.
4 SCHEDLER, Andreas, “Mexico's Civil War Democracy”, American Political Science Association, 2013,
Annual Meeting, available from SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2299314 [15.02.2016].
5 MORRIS, Stephen, “Review of Organized Crime and Democratic Governability: Mexico and the U.S.-
Mexican Borderlands”, Bulletin of Latin American Research, 21(1), (2011), pp 148-150, p. 152.
6 EDMONDS, Poli, “The Effects of Drug-War Related Violence on Mexico’s Press and Democracy”, (2013),
available from https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/edmonds_violence_press_0.pdf [10.03.2016].
7 CRANDALL, Russell, “Review of Drugs and Democracy in Latin America: The Impact o f U.S. Policy”,
Latin American P olitics and Society, 48(1), (2006), pp 192-195, p. 193.
8 BOW, Bryan, Security a nd the State in Mexico: Tra nsformation and Crisis in Regional Per spective, US A:
Routledge, 2012, p. 34.
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