Description
Transnational criminal organizations are a substantial challenge for much of the Latin American region. Many governments have responded by utilizing military force to combat these groups, with various levels of involvement of soldiers in public security activities. From the use of paramilitary police in Brazilian favelas, to the war mentality to fight gangs in El Salvador and the outright armed intervention to push back criminals in Haiti, the boundaries between the military and civilian spheres is blurring at a rapid pace. This paper is part of a PhD dissertation looking into the militarization of government agencies in Mexico, where the armed forces control approximately 17% of the state budget while also operating banks, airports, customs offices, commercial airlines and construction projects. It argues that the traditional methods of measuring militarization or militarism (military spending as % of GDP, number of troops and equipment) do not account for the profound institutional changes caused by the extensive use of the military in government or the eroding authority of civilians in security policy and practice.
