Violence vs. Violence: Why the Felipe Calderón and Enrique Peña Nieto Administrations Exacerbated Violence in Michoacán
Social Sciences
POLI 190V
Mexico's failure to restore tranquility in Michoacán has created a security crisis that- to this day- plagues the state. Michoacán has experienced a dreadful war against drugs that has not been resolved, but rather, aggravated in the face of militarized operations. The purpose of this study is to reveal how state policies and actions directly and indirectly affect violence and public security. This study examines the two most recent presidential administrations in Mexico: the Felipe Calderón and Enrique Peña Nieto (EPN) administrations throughout 2006-2018. I examine two critical questions: In what ways did Felipe Calderón’s militarized war against drugs exacerbate violence in Michoacán? And, how did the policies and actions of the Enrique Peña Nieto administration aggravate the pre-existing violence crisis in Michoacán? I conclude that Michoacán has undergone two waves of violence: The Aggressive Wave Era under Felipe Calderón and the Vicious Cycle Era under Enrique Peña Nieto. Ultimately, I hope that this essay unravels the importance of steering away from militarized approaches to violence towards establishing crucial relationships between civil society and the state. In essence, I conclude this study with the implications that violence has on Mexican migration into the United States.
