Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

State and criminal violence in Latin America

  • Published:
Crime, Law and Social Change Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Most explanations of the high levels of violence in Latin America and the Caribbean have focused on economic factors, cultural variables, and drug wars. In this article, I argue that it is necessary to bring the state back into the analysis of criminal violence by examining the many ways in which the state directly contributes to violence. State agents contribute to the escalation of criminal violence in the region by extending the legal limits of the use of legitimate force, by tolerating and supporting the employment of extralegal approaches to deal with crime and disorder, and by partnering with criminal groups and militias. They do this while seeking legitimacy and constructing political authority. The modern-day participation of state institutions in the reproduction of violence stems from the particular mode of state development in Latin America, which has tended to outsource and negotiate the means of legitimate force with different social actors. Processes of democratization of the last three decades unintendedly opened the space for more violent contestation by emergent state-related actors.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. For a detailed and up-to-date account of state agents’ participation in extrajudicial killings, see: In Sight Crime, available at http://www.insightcrime.org (accessed 20 May 2014).

  2. The table does not include Chile, Panama, and Uruguay because there are no reports of significant manifestations of state-sponsored violence in those countries.

  3. Obviously, there is more to the differences between the north and the south of Central America. For space reasons, I cannot expand them, but see: Torres-Rivas [110].

References

  1. McKinley, J. C. (2007, March 5). In Guatemala, Officers' Killings Echo Dirty War. The New York Times, p. A1.

  2. Files Suggest Honduran Police Leaders Ordered Killing of Antidrug Officials. (2016, April 16). The New York Times, p. A6.

  3. Inquiry challenges Mexico’s Account of How 43 Students Vanished. (2016, April 25). The New York Times, p. A5.

  4. Ayres, R. L. (1998). Crime and Violence as Development Issues in Latin America and the Caribbean (World Bank Latin American and Caribbean Studies). Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  5. Buvinic, M., Morrison, A., & Shifter, M. (1999). Violence in Latin America and the Caribbean. A Framework for Action. Washington, D.C.: Inter-American Development Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  6. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2013). Global Study on Homicide 2013. Trends, Contexts, Data. Vienna: UNODC.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Muggah, R. (2015). Latin America’s Poverty is Down, but Violence is Up. Why? Americas Quarterly.

  8. Briceño-León, R., Avila, O., & Camardiel, A. (2012a). Las tres fases de la violencia homicida en Venezuela contemporánea. In R. Briceño-León, O. Avila, & A. Camardiel (Eds.), Violencia e institucionalidad. Informe del Observatorio Venezolano de Violencia 2012 (pp. 51–66). Editorial Alfa: Caracas.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Gagne, D. (2016). InSight Crime’s 2015 Latin America Homicide Round-up. Insight Crime. http://www.insightcrime.org/news-analysis/insight-crime-homicide-round-up-2015-latin-america-caribbean. Accessed 5 May 2016.

  10. Di Tella, R., Edwards, S., & Schargrodsky, E. (2010). The Economics of Crime: Lessons for and from Latin America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  11. Fajnzylber, P., Lederman, D., & Loayza, N. (2002). Inequality and Violent Crime. Journal of Law and Economics, 45, 1–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Loureiro, P. R. A., & Silva, E. C. D. (2012). What causes intentional homicide? Journal of International Development, 24(3), 287–303. doi:10.1002/jid.1764.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Briceño-León, R., Villaveces, A., & Concha-Eastman, A. (2008). Understanding the uneven distribution of the incidence of homicide in Latin America. International Journal of Epidemiology, 37, 751–757.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Gaviria, A., & Pagés, C. (2002). Patterns of crime victimization in Latin American cities. Journal of Development Economics, 67(1), 181–203.

  15. McIlwaine, C., & Moser, C. (2001). Violence and social capital in urban poor communities: perspectives from Colombia and Guatemala. Journal of International Development, 13(7), 965–984.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Waldmann, P. (2007). Is There a Culture of Violence in Colombia? Terrorism and Political Violence, 19(4), 593–609. doi:10.1080/09546550701626836.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Bagley, B. M., & Rosen, J. D. (2015). Drug Trafficking, Organized Crime, and Violence in the Americas Today. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  18. Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (2013). Informe Regional de Desarrollo Humano 2013–2014. Seguridad ciudadana con rostro humano: diagnóstico y propuestas para América Latina. Panama: Centro Regional de Servicios para América Latina y el Caribe, PNUD.

  19. The World Bank (2011). Crime and Violence in Central America: A Development Challenge. Sustainable Development Department and Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit: Washington D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Bailey, J., & Taylor, M. M. (2009). Evade, Corrupt, or Confront? Organized Crime and the State in Brazil and Mexico. Journal of Politics in Latin America, 1(2), 3–29.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Brands, H. (2011). Crime, Irregular Warfare, and Institutional Failure in Latin America: Guatemala as a Case Study. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 34(3), 228–247.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Imbusch, P., Misse, M., & Carrion, F. (2011). Violence Research in Latin America. A Literature Review. International Journal of Conflict and Violence, 5(1), 87–154.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Rivera, M. (2015). The sources of social violence in Latin America: An empirical analysis of homicide rates, 1980–2010. Journal of Peace Research. doi:10.1177/0022343315598823.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Bergman, M., & Whitehead, L. (2009). Introduction. Criminality and Citizen Security in Latin America. In M. Bergman & L. Whitehead (Eds.), Criminality, Public Security and the Challenge to Democracy in Latin America (pp. 1–23). Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Fruhling, H., Tulchin, J., & Golding, H. (Eds.) (2003). Crime and Violence in Latin America: Citizen Security, Democracy, and the State. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Ungar, M. (2011). Policing democracy: overcoming obstacles to citizen security in Latin America. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Chu, D. C., & Tusalem, R. F. (2013). The Role of the State on Cross-National Homicide Rates. International Criminal Justice Review, 23(3), 252–279.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Centeno, M. A., & Ferraro, A. (2013b). Republics of the Possible. State building in Latin America and Spain. In M. A. Centeno & A. Ferraro (Eds.), State and Nation Making in Latin America and Spain. Republics of the Possible (pp. 3–24). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  29. Waldmann, P. (2006). El Estado anómico. Derecho, seguridad pública y vida cotidiana en América Latina. Madrid: Iberoamericana.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Arias, E. D. (2013). The impacts of differential armed dominance of politics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Studies in Comparative International Development, 48(3), 263–284. doi:10.1007/s12116–013–9137-8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Dewey, M. (2012). The making of hybrid stateness: Sources of police performance in the Conurbano. Revista de Ciencia Política, 32(3), 659–672.

  32. Felbab-Brown, V. (2010). Rules and Regulations in Ungoverned Spaces. Illicit Economies, Criminals and Belligerents. In A. L. Clunan & H. Trinkunas (Eds.), Ungoverned Spaces. Alternatives to State Authority in an Era of Softened Sovereignty (pp. 175–192). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Acemoglu, D., Robinson, J. A., & Santos, R. J. (2013). The monopoly of violence: Evidence from Colombia. Journal of the European Economic Association, 11(s1), 5–44. doi:10.1111/j.1542–4774.2012.01099.x.

  34. Koonings, K., & Kruijt, D. (2004). Armed Actors, organized violence and state failure in Latin America: a survey of issues and arguments. In K. Koonings & D. Kruijt (Eds.), Armed Actors. Organised Violence and State Failure in Latin America (pp. 5–15). New York: Zed Books.

  35. Godoy, A. S. (2006). Popular Injustice, Violence, Community, and Law in Latin America. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  36. Goldstein, D. M. (2003). “In our own hands”: Lynching, justice, and the law in Bolivia. American Ethnologist, 30(1), 22–43. doi:10.2307/3805207.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Centeno, M. A. (2002). The centre did not hold: War in Latin America and the monopolisation of violence. In J. Dunkerley (Ed.), Studies in the Formation of the Nation State in Latin America (pp. 54–76). London: Institute for the Study of the Americas.

    Google Scholar 

  38. Weber, M. (1994). The Profession and Vocation of Politics. In P. Lassman & R. Speirs (Eds.), Weber. Political Writings (pp. 309–369). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  39. Bailey, J., & Dammert, L. (Eds.) (2006). Public Security and Police Reform in the Americas. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.

    Google Scholar 

  40. O’Donnell, G. (2004). Why the rule of law matters. Journal of Democracy, 15(4), 32–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Arias, E. D. (2006). The Dynamics of Criminal Governance: Networks and Social Order in Rio de Janeiro. Journal of Latin American Studies, 38(2), 293–310.

  42. Davis, D. E. (2010). The Political and Economic Origins of Violence and Insecurity in Latin America. Past Trajectories and Future Prospects. In E. D. Arias & D. M. Goldstein (Eds.), Violent Democracies in Latin America (pp. 35–62). Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  43. Koonings, K. (2001). Armed actors, violence, and democracy in Latin America in 1990s: Introductory notes. Bulletin of Latin American Research, 20(4), 401–408.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Pearce, J. (2010). Perverse state formation and securitized democracy in Latin America. Democratization, 17(2), 286–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Cruz, J. M. (2011a). Criminal Violence and Democratization in Central America: The Survival of the Violent State. Latin American Politics and Society, 53(4), 1–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Diamond, L. (2008). The Democratic Rollback. The Resurgence of the Predatory State. Foreign Affairs, 87(2), 36–48.

    Google Scholar 

  47. Holston, J. (2009b). Insurgent citizenship: disjunctions of democracy and modernity in Brazil. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  48. Bobea, L. (2013). Seeking Out the State: Organized Crime, Violence and Statetropism in the Caribbean. In B. M. Bagley & R. D. Jonathan (Eds.), Drug Trafficking, Organized Crime, and Violence in the Americas Today (pp. 293–322). Gainesville: University Press of Florida.

    Google Scholar 

  49. Müller, M. M. (2013). ‘Public’ security and patron–client exchanges in Latin America. Government and Opposition, 48(4), 548–569. doi:10.1017/gov.2013.2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Snyder, R., & Duran-Martinez, A. (2009). Does illegality breed violence? Drug trafficking and state-sponsored protection rackets. Crime, Law and Social Change, 52(3), 253–273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Rueschemeyer, D., & Evans, P. (1984). The State and Economic Transformation: Toward an Analysis of the Conditions Underlying Effective Intervention. In D. Rueschemeyer, P. Evans, & T. Skocpol (Eds.), Bringing the State Back In (pp. 44–77). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  52. Skocpol, T. (1984). Bringing the State Back In: Strategies of Analysis in Current Research. In D. Rueschemeyer, P. Evans, & T. Skocpol (Eds.), Bringing the State Back In (pp. 3–37). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  53. Tilly, C. (2003). The politics of collective violence. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  54. Ungar, M. (2009). Policing Youth in Latin America. In G. Jones & D. Rodgers (Eds.), Youth Violence in Latin America. Gangs and Juvenile Justice in Perspective (pp. 203–224). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  55. Brinks, D. (2008). The Judicial Response to Police Killings in Latin America. Inequality and the Rule of Law. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  56. Costa, A. T. M. (2011). Police Brutality in Brazil: Authoritarian Legacy or Institutional Weakness? Latin American Perspectives, 38(5), 19–32. doi:10.1177/0094582x10391631.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. Centeno, M. A., & Ferraro, A. (2013a). Paper Leviathans. Historical Legacies and State Strength in Contemporary Latin America and Spain. In M. A. Centeno & A. Ferraro (Eds.), State and Nation Making in Latin America and Spain (pp. 399–416). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  58. Holden, R. H. (2004). Armies Without Nations. In Public Violence and State Formation in Central America, 1821–1960. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  59. Saín, M. (2006). A failed state facing new criminal problems: the case of Argentina. In K. Koonings & D. Kruijt (Eds.), Armed Actors. Organised Violence and State Failure in Latin America (pp. 127–138). London: Zed Books.

    Google Scholar 

  60. O’Donnell, G. (1999). Polyarchies and the (un)rule of law in Latin America: a partial conclusion. In J. E. Méndez, G. O’Donnell, & P. S. Pinheiro (Eds.), The (un)rule of law and the underprivileged in Latin America (pp. 303–338). Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.

  61. Kaldor, M. (1999). New and old wars: organized violence in a global era. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  62. Sullivan, J. P. (1997). Third Generation Street Gangs: Turf, Cartels and Netwarriors. Transnational Organized Crime, 3(2), 95–108.

    Google Scholar 

  63. Dammert, L., & Malone, M. F. T. (2006). Does It Take a Village? Policing Strategies and Fear of Crime in Latin America. Latin American Politics and Society, 48(4), 27–51. doi:10.1111/j.1548–2456.2006.tb00364.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  64. Basombrío, C. (2003). The Militarization of Public Security in Peru. In H. Fruhling, J. Tulchin, & H. Golding (Eds.), Crime and Violence in Latin America. Citizen Security, Democracy, and the State (pp. 153–178). Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  65. Hume, M. (2007). Mano Dura: El Salvador responds to gangs. Development in Practice, 17(6), 739–751.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  66. Cruz, J. M. (2011b). Government responses and the dark side of gang suppression in Central America. In T. C. Bruneau, L. Dammert, & E. Skinner (Eds.), Maras. Gang Violence and Security in Central America (pp. 135–157). Austin: University of Texas Press.

    Google Scholar 

  67. Ranum, E. C. (2011). Street Gangs of Guatemala. In T. C. Bruneau, L. Dammert, & E. Skinner (Eds.), Maras. Gang Violence and Security in Central America (pp. 71–86). Austin: University of Texas Press.

    Google Scholar 

  68. Ribando-Seelke, C. (2012). Gangs in Central America. CRS Report for Congress. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research Service.

    Google Scholar 

  69. Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarollo (2009). Informe sobre Desarrollo Humano para América Central 2009–2010. San José: PNUD Costa Rica.

    Google Scholar 

  70. Cruz, J. M. (2010). Central American maras: From youth gangs to transnational protection rackets. Global Crime, 11(4), 379–398.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  71. Adorno, S., & Salla, F. (2007). Criminalidade organizada nas prisoes e os ataques do PCC. Estudios Avancados, 21(61), 7–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  72. Lessing, B. (2014). How to Build a Criminal Empire from Behind Bars: Prison Gangs and Projection of Power. http://www.iza.org/conference_files/riskonomics2014/lessing_b9947.pdf. Accessed 5 May 2016.

  73. Huggins, M. K. (1998). Political Policing: The United States and Latin America. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  74. Avilés, W. (2006). Paramilitarism and Colombia’s Low-Intensity Democracy. Journal of Latin American Studies, 38(2), 379–408. doi:10.2307/3875504.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  75. Wells, M. (2013b). Why do Brazilian Police Kill? In Sight Crime. http://www.insightcrime.org/news-analysis/why-do-brazilian-police-kill. Accessed 5 May 2016.

  76. Hinton, M. (2009). Police and State Reform in Brazil: Bad Apple or Rotten Barrel? In M. Hinton & T. Newburn (Eds.), Policing Developing Societies (pp. 213–234). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  77. Vargas, J. C., & Amparo Alves, J. (2009). Geographies of death: an intersectional analysis of police lethality and the racialized regimes of citizenship in São Paulo. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 33(4), 611–636. doi:10.1080/01419870903325636.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  78. Abreu, C. (2012). Policía mata más 290 en 2012, según dice Derechos Humanos. Hoy Digital. http://hoy.com.do/policiamata-mas-290-en-2012-segun-dice-derechos-humanos/. Accessed 25 Aug 2015.

  79. Valencia Caravantes, D. (2015). Presidente atribuye a Policía un 30 % de los homicidios del mes más violento del siglo. El Faro. http://www.elfaro.net/es/201504/noticias/16850/. Accessed 25 Aug 2015.

  80. Arias, E. D., & Ungar, M. (2009). Community Policing and Latin America’s Citizen Security Crisis.Comparative Politics, 41(4), 409–429.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  81. United Nations Human Rights Council (2009). Report of the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions. Philip Alston: addendum: follow-up to country recommendations-Guatemala. In H. R. Council (Ed.). New York.

  82. International Crisis Group (2011). Violence and politics in venezuela. Latin America Report. Washington, DC: International Crisis Group.

  83. Auyero, J. (2010). Clandestine Connections, The Political and Relational Makings of Collective Violence. In E. D. Arias & D. M. Goldstein (Eds.), Violent Democracies in Latin America (pp. 108–132). Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  84. Rocha, J. L. (2008). Mareros y pandilleros: ¿Nuevos insurgentes criminales? In J. L. Rocha & D. Rodgers (Eds.), Bróderes descobijados y vagos alucinados. Una década con las pandillas nicaraguenses (pp. 135–164). Envío: Managua.

    Google Scholar 

  85. Sives, A. (2012). A calculated assault on the authority of the state? Crime, politics and extradition in twenty-first century Jamaica. Crime, Law and Social Change, 58(4), 415–435. doi:10.1007/s10611–012–9391-0.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  86. Campbell, L. J. (2010). Los Zetas: operational assessment. Small Wars & Insurgencies, 21(1), 55–80. doi:10.1080/09592310903561429.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  87. Gutiérrez Sanín, F., & Barón, M. (2005). Re-stating the State: Paramilitary territorial control and political order in Colombia (1978–2004). London, UK: Crisis States Research Centre.

    Google Scholar 

  88. Penglase, B. (2009). States of insecurity: everyday emergencies, public secrets, and drug trafficker power in a Brazilian favela. PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review, 32(1), 47–63. doi:10.1111/j.1555-2934.2009.01023.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  89. Cawley, M. (2013). 1,400 Honduras Police Suspended for Links to Organized Crime. In Sight Crime. http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/1400-honduras-police-suspended-for-links-to-organized-crime. Accessed 5 May 2015.

  90. The Economist (2010, March 11). Reaching the Untouchables. Guatemala and Organised Crime The Economist.

  91. Davis, J. (2012). Bolivia Gets 8th National Police Chief in 6 Years. In Sight Crime. http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/bolivia-gets-8th-national-police-chief-in-6-years. Accessed 25 Aug 2015.

  92. Sabet, D. M. (2012). Corruption or insecurity? Understanding dissatisfaction with Mexico’s police. Latin American Politics and Society, 55(1), 22–45. doi:10.1111/j.1548-2456.2012.00182.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  93. Birbeck, C., & Gabaldón, L. G. (2009). Venezuela: Policing as an Exercise of Authority. In M. Hinton & T. Newburn (Eds.), Policing Developing Democracies (pp. 165–187). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  94. Wells, M. (2013a). How Venezuela’s Military Tried to Fly a Ton of Cocaine to France. In Sight Crime. http://www.insightcrime.org/news-analysis/details-revealed-about-venezuela-militarys-massive-drug-smuggle. Accessed 5 May 2015.

  95. Peacock, S. C., & Beltrán, A. (2003). Hidden Powers. Illegal Armed Groups on Post-Conflict Guatemala and the Forces Behind Them. A WOLA Special Report. Washignton, D.C.: WOLA.

    Google Scholar 

  96. Briceño-León, R., Avila, O., & Camardiel, A. (2012b). Violencia e institucionalidad. Informe del Observatorio Venezolano de la Violencia 2012. Caracas: Editorial Alfa.

    Google Scholar 

  97. Holston, J. (2009a). Dangerous spaces of citizenship: gang talk, rights talk and rule of law in Brazil. Planning Theory, 8(1), 12–31. doi:10.1177/1473095208099296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  98. Human Rights Watch, (2011). Neither Rights Nor Security. Killings, Torture and Dissapearances in Mexico’s “War on Drugs”. New York: Human Rights Watch.

  99. Gagne, D. (2015). El Salvador Police Chief Targets Rising Gang Violence. In Sight Crime. http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/el-salvador-police-commander-green-light-gangs. Accessed 25 Aug 2015.

  100. Staniland, P. (2012). States, insurgents, and wartime political orders. Perspectives on Politics, 10(02), 243–264. doi:10.1017/S1537592712000655.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  101. Dudley, S. (2015). Honduras Elites and Organized Crime. Washington, D.C.: InSight Crime/IDRC.

    Google Scholar 

  102. U.S. Department of State (2015). Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2014. Washington, DC: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.

    Google Scholar 

  103. Dammert, L., & Salazar, F. (2009). ¿Duros con el delito?: populismo e inseguridad en América Latina (Vol. 7, Reporte del Sector Seguridad en América Latina y el Caribe). Santiago: FLACSO-Chile.

    Google Scholar 

  104. Davis, D. E. (2006). Undermining the Rule of Law: Democratization and the Dark Side of Police Reform in Mexico. Latin American Politics and Society, 48(1), 55–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  105. Auyero, J., Burbano de Lara, A., & Berti, M. F. (2014). Violence and the state at the urban margins. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 43(1), 94–116. doi:10.1177/0891241613494809.

  106. Rodgers, D. (2006). The State as a Gang. Conceptualizing the governmentality of violence in contemporary Nicaragua. Critique of Anthropology, 26(6), 315–330.

  107. Knight, A. (2012). Narco-violence and the state in modern Mexico. In W. G. Pansters (Ed.), Violence, Coercion, and State Making in Twentieth-Century Mexico (pp. 115–134). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  108. Durán-Martínez, A. (2013). Criminals, Cops, and Politicians: The Dynamics of Drug Violence in Colombia and Mexico. Providence, RI: Brown University.

    Google Scholar 

  109. Booth, J. A., Wade, C. J., & Walker, T. W. (2015). Understanding Central America. Global Forces, Rebellion, and Change (Sixth ed.). Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  110. Torres-Rivas, E. (2011). Revoluciones sin cambios revolucionarios. Ensayos sobre la crisis de Centroamérica. Guatemala: F&G Editores.

    Google Scholar 

  111. Beltrán, A. (2007). The Captive State. Organized Crime and Human Rights in Latin America. WOLA Special Report. Washington, D.C: WOLA.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The author wish to express his gratitude to Astrid Arraras, Frank Mora, Rosario Queirolo, and the five anonymous reviewers for their comments on previous versions of this essay.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street, DM 352, Miami, FL, 33199, USA

    José Miguel Cruz

Authors
  1. José Miguel Cruz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to José Miguel Cruz.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Cruz, J.M. State and criminal violence in Latin America. Crime Law Soc Change 66, 375–396 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-016-9631-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-016-9631-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation