Narcos and Maras: the transnationalization of crime

Résumé du document

In this presentation, we are going to deal with a very sensitive subject, which affects Latin America. It is quite a controversial issue, which also creates a lot of fantasy in occidental minds. Although people may frequently exaggerate, it is an unquestionable fact that Latin American has known a very strong upsurge of violence since the 1980's. We are going to discuss organized crime in Latin American, and take a particular interest in two kinds of phenomenon: the "narcos" and the "maras". We are also going to see the spread of those phenomena across borders. To do so, we must first explain exactly "narcos" and "maras" mean. As you may have guessed, "narcos" refers to the Spanish word: "narcotraficantes", which means "drug dealers". This usually refers to marijuana and cocaine that grow in Latin America and are sold all over the world, via organized bands. Here, we shall talk about the whole chain, from production to money laundering, that is controlled by the "narcos": in that way they are very close to the mafiosos. They also challenge the states, since their relations to the public powers are not so clear.

Extraits

[...] We don't have to forget the positive impact on socialization that the gangs create. They commit crimes and are implied in illegal traffics to get money. And the greatest challenge remains: to offer to these young people job opportunities and reasons to believe in their future outside of a gang. To conclude rapidly we can say that these two phenomena, the narcos and more generally the drug traffic, and the maras that is to say young and violent gangs, are a great problem for Latin American countries. [...]

[...] Though, the situation has quite evolved, we will see it next. If we talk now of the Cordula Strocka, in her article, insists on the fact that gangs of young people have existed long before the guerrillas of the 70's, for example in Peru or in Nicaragua. During those decades of conflicts, they were repressed and nearly disappeared. That is why it is absolutely false to say that those gangs are the result of years of guerrillas, as if they were their heirs. [...]

[...] For instance he killed three out of the five candidates to the presidential elections in the country in 1989. This kind of destiny, which completely challenge the State's role, was able to exist only thanks to the money raised by drug trafficking. But the rise of criminality in Latin American country is very often said to be linked to the emergence of the maras. It is difficult to say if it is absolutely true or if if they are the scapegoats of inefficient governments who find easier to accuse the youth than the drug cartels. [...]

[...] The passion for tattoos is in the same idea. And these gangs are involved in every type of organized crime, from drug trafficking to robberies or crimes. The places where they are established are often turned into no-go areas. It used to be exclusively urban areas but now they also spread in the countryside. What is even more preoccupying is that those gangs are becoming less and less rooted and more and more transnational, as transnational as the illegal activities that they practice. [...]

[...] Thus, these two phenomena are closely linked and we are going to study which challenges they raise for Latin American countries. We are going to see first how the and the have grown in Latin America and how they managed to expand on nearly all the territories, becoming more than a national issue. Then we will try to understand what are the answers of Latin American countries to this serious threat and if these answers are efficient. I. The growth and the expansion of Narcos and Maras in Latin America The renewal of an old tradition We can begin with drug traffic, because it is “narcos”' activity and one of the main source of funds for Thus, we have to remember that the coca leaf is part of ancestral cultures in Latin America: South-American Indians were already used to chewing it five thousand years ago. [...]