Violence in the Americas by Jonathan D. Rosen Hanna S. Kassab & Jonathan D. Rosen

Author:Jonathan D. Rosen,Hanna S. Kassab & Jonathan D. Rosen [Kassab, Hanna S. & Rosen, Jonathan D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lexington Books, a division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Published: 2018-03-28T04:00:00+00:00

Economic and Labor Factors

Since the 1980s, Mexico has been part of the neoliberal global market. This economic model has had both positive and negative effects. The rapid interchange of information and the mobility of persons and resources facilitated by new communication technologies, transportation, and free trade policies has integrated the world economy. These conditions have also facilitated the international trade of goods and legal services. However, criminal organizations have also used such advances to increase their illicit operations. Thus, the openness of markets and borders have multiplied the opportunities to invest money stemming from organized crime in legal markets and businesses around the world.

Poor economic performance, poverty, and the disconnected youth problem have been underlying factors that have contributed to illicit activities as well as violence in Mexico. While neoliberal policies21 have been implemented in Mexico since 1982, the results have been low economic growth and recurrent crises that have created a labor environment characterized by precarious jobs, informality, unemployment, and high levels of economic and social inequality. This economic and labor context has been used by drug cartels to mobilize the support of marginalized sectors of society, which are not only located in rural areas but also in urban centers. Drug traffickers recruit vulnerable individuals working in the informal economy and living in precarious conditions. Drug traffickers often provide people from marginalized communities with higher salaries than they can receive performing various other menial jobs.

Mexico has millions of youth who neither work nor study (ni estudian, ni trabajan), who are referred to as the ninis. The World Bank correlates the nini22 problem with crime and violence in Latin America. For example, “in Colombia, Mexico, and Central America, where the share of ninis is above the regional average, the problem is compounded by the widespread presence of organized crime. In such environments, new evidence shows that the ‘nini’ problem is correlated with crime and violence, heightening risks for the youth and for society as a whole.”23 Regarding the case of Mexico, the ninis contributed to violence, particularly in the border states from 2008 to 2013.

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