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

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Watt, Peter (Educator)

Contributor:

Zepeda Martínez, Roberto.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Drug control--Mexico.

Drug control.

Mexico.

Drug traffic--Mexico.

Drug traffic.

Mexico--Politics and government.

Politics and government.

Physical Description:

x, 260 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Zed Books, [2012]

Summary:

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.

In response, President Calderón, armed with millions of dollars in US military aid, has launched a crackdown, ostensibly to combat organised crime. Yet the murder rate, along with the supply of cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine, has continued to increase.

In this insightful and controversial book, Peter Watt and Roberto Zepeda throw 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. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Drug Trafficking in Mexico - History and Background 10

2 Cold War Expansion of the Trade and the Repression of Dissent 35

3 The Political Economy of the 'War on Drugs' 62

4 Getting Rich Quick - and Those Who Didn't 97

5 El Cambio (The Change) 141

6 War is Peace 179

7 Another Century of Drug War? 229.

Notes:

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

ISBN:

9781848138872

1848138873

9781848138865

1848138865

OCLC:

785862366