Drug War in Mexico

Bill Resnick talks with Peter Watt, co-author with Roberto Zepeda of Drug War Mexico: Politics, Neoliberalism and Violence in the New Narcoeconomy, about the recent reports of drug-related violence in Mexico. Watt notes that government violence has functioned to preserve political hegemony by terroristic repression against guerilla movements since the 1960s, but state authorities have exploited the drug trade to preserve the status quo. US drug policy and military aid to Mexico have fostered militarization and violence, strengthening larger drug producers and driving smaller producers out of business. The rise of drug trafficking in Mexico coincides with the imposition of neoliberal economic policies in 1982, which has increased economic inequality and strengthened the development of cartels and their authoritarian government allies in the interests of preserving unjust and exploitive economic relations.