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Violence In Urban Mexico: A Municipal Analysis Of State Capacity And Competition Among Drug Trafficking Organizations, Rocío A. Rivera Barradas

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation examines why certain cities in Mexico experience higher levels of drug-related violence. Traditionally, this kind of violence was thought to be endemic of the border region with the U.S. Nevertheless, since 2007 some cities have experienced an alarming increase in drug-related homicides despite their proximity to the U.S. By employing a quantitative analysis and a small-N comparison across three cities (Monterrey, Veracruz and Cuernavaca), this dissertation addresses two related puzzles: why some cities suddenly experienced a significant increase in drug-related violence; and, why the deployment of military force has been able to successfully mitigate this violence in some …