Abstract
In this chapter, I will argue that the delegation of policy missions to the armed forces and away from civilian agencies transformed the balance of power that had prevailed for decades in the system of civilmilitary relations. As I will show, the initial decision of President Carlos Salinas to use the military instead of the Attorney General’s Office to counteract the power of the drug cartels created a momentum of militarization that has reached virtually every corner of the system of public security at federal, state, and municipal levels.
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© 2012 George Philip and Susana Berruecos
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López-González, J.A. (2012). Civil-Military Relations and the Militarization of Public Security in Mexico, 1989–2010: Challenges to Democracy. In: Philip, G., Berruecos, S. (eds) Mexico’s Struggle for Public Security. Studies of The Americas. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137034052_5
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