The Dispute over Profits in Territories Organized By Crime

This analysis aims to construct interpretations about the probable link between violence and territory from testimonies collected in Apatzingán (Michoacán, Mexico) with those who participate in the drug trafficking business, which showed firstly the articulation between illegal and legal businesses, and then, the characteristics of commercial competition driven by illicit businesses that attempt to displace local businesses and simultaneously take over their markets. According to the testimonies, this fact sought to reinforce the dominance of criminal businesses in the area, by controlling the profits derived from regional economic activity (Lyon, 2024).

However, criminal control of economic activity did not reduce the vulnerability of its inhabitants facing situations of violence. This resulted in ongoing precariousness in their social context, manifesting as fear that has turned into individual suffering (Butler, 2018).

Moreover, the establishment of illegal commercial businesses on the streets in certain urban spaces or territories has favored the emergence of organizations that seek to protect these from probable intervention by the authorities, in exchange for payment. This has led to disputes, not only over the inclusion of new members, but also concerning these spaces. This was apparent in the Cuautepec area located in the Gustavo A. Madero municipality of Mexico City.

In this way, testimonial information from these cases has helped create a narrative of violence, perceived as a dispute justified by values and beliefs, for which material interests may be the only manifestation (Alexander, 2011).

References

Alexander, J. (2011). “Fact-signs and cultural sociology: How meaning-making liberates the social imagination”. Thesis Eleven 104 (1): 87-93.

Butler, J. (2018). Resistencias, México: Paradiso editores.

Lyon, D. (2024). Surveillance. A very short introduction, United Kingdon: Oxford University Press.