Tres mitos sobre la guerra contra el narcotráfico (Chapter 3) Perspectivas | Development Bank of Latin America (CAF)
Benjamin Lessing  |  December 2011

Three fundamentally misguided conceptions about the relationship between state policy, drug trafficking, and trafficking-related violence plague policymakers: 1. The notion that the drug trade is inherently violent, when in fact trafficking-related violence is not tightly correlated with drug flows. 2. The claim that anti-state violence on the part of cartels is an indication that they are 'desperate' and about to be permanently eradicated. Finally, 3. The idea that the only alternative to an all-out war on drug cartels is 'surrender'. In fact, the state does not need to openly negotiate or 'pact' with cartels in order to create incentives that will lead cartels to reduce their use of violence.