Abstract

MALDONADO ARANDA, Salvador. Drugs, violence and militarization in rural Mexico: The case of Michoacán. Rev. Mex. Sociol [online]. 2012, vol.74, n.1, pp. 5-39. ISSN 0188-2503.

Drugs have attracted a great deal of attention in the international media, as they have done in Mexico, since they are associated with violence, corruption and militarization. Although this is understandable, due the importance of the drug cartels on the border zones, drug production and trafficking are widespread phenomena in other parts of the country such as Guerrero and Michoacán. Michoacán has a long history in this area as well as military campaigns for combating them. This document examines the socio-economic and political transformations in the south of Michoacán and analyzes the emergence of drug trafficking as part of the profound changes in agrarian issues and the neoliberal reforms implemented.

Keywords : drug trafficking; State; region; mobility and violence.