NATIONAL SECURITY and DEMOCRACY: How has the Drug War Influenced Democratic Governance in Mexico?
Conventional wisdom assumes that democracy enhances democratic governance. In Mexico, this assumption has been challenged by the Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTOs) which after the 2000 democratic election started to attack state and civil institutions in order to weaken state authority and the actions of three presidents to control the DTOs. NAFTA increased the wealth and firepower of DTOs, and the 2000 election undermined presidential control and gave greater political access to the DTOs. The DTOs became more willing to corrupt and attack state and civil institutions at all levels to weaken state credibility and “win Mexico by default”. President Vicente Fox convinced Congress to pass Mexico’s first National Security Law declaring the DTOs a threat to Mexican democracy. Presidents Felipe Calderon and Enrique Peña Nieto used it to declare war on the DTOs. This paper examines how the implementation of the National Security Law which merged public and national security concepts has impacted democratic governance in Mexico. Each president stressed different aspects of the law while using existing security capabilities to control the DTOs. Today, the question is whether both the DTOs as well as the state’s actions to control them are threats to Mexican democracy.
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