Breaking the Law to Ensure Order: The Case of Tijuana (2007–2012) |
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Authors: | Anaís M Passos |
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Institution: | Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil |
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Abstract: | This paper explores how state agents and civilians justify human rights violations when the military perform police tasks. Based on a set of interviews and documents, it analyses the actions of the armed forces and the police during a military-led operation that targeted drug trafficking organisations in Tijuana. In a context of limited civilian control over the armed forces and the police, the paper identifies two discourses that supported the illegal action of state agents: the construction of a foreign other who does not belong to society and the need to use violence to accomplish a greater good. |
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Keywords: | civilian control civil-military relations Latin America Mexico violence war on drugs |
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