Exporting the Colombian ""Model"": Comparing Law Enforcement Strategies Towards Security and Stability Operations in Colombia and Mexico

The increase in violence involving transnational organized crime syndicates in various parts of M?xico in the twenty-first century is widely viewed as a challenge to security and stability. Some observers have drawn comparisons with the well documented conflict in Colombia in the 1980s and 1990s between the Colombian government and the Medell?n and Cali cartels. Various factors, including the professionalization of the Colombian National Police, are viewed as a model for improving the effectiveness of law enforcement elsewhere. This thesis asks whether a Colombian law enforcement model can be codified, in terms of key attributes, to improve security and stability in M?xico. To this end, I explore Colombia's law enforcement strategy in the 1980s and 1990s and identify shifts in strategy that might also apply to the current struggle in M?xico. At the same time, I identify aspects of the Colombian model that have little or no relevance to contemporary M?xico. I argue that the Colombian model can do little to reduce or eliminate the production and transportation of illegal narcotics by M?xico-based organized crime syndicates; however, a hybrid version of the Colombian model could help reduce the overall power of the cartels and enhance security and stability throughout M?xico.

Author: Naval Postgraduate School

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Publication Date: Nov 27, 2014

Number of Pages: 90 pages

Binding: Paperback or Softback

ISBN-10: 1505207908

ISBN-13: 9781505207903