THE MILITARIZATION OF THE UNITED STATES-MEXICO BORDER REGION

Resumo

The U.S.-Mexico border is a site of extensive militarization in both countries, although the direct intervention of the military and military-like police agencies is greater in Mexico than in the United States.  The widespread, sloppy use of militarization concerning this region requires initial careful definitional comments.  Then, militarization on the Mexican side of the border is examined, in particular the extreme intervention of the military since the 2006 Calderón presidency.  The human rights consequences of this intervention are reviewed, as well as the involvement of the United States in Plan Mérida.  U.S. militarization of the border is also considered, especially intensive surveillance and intelligence analysis in the framework of national security.  The article closes by asking whether militarization serves social control, and if so, how coherent and cohesive it is.  The key argument is that militarization is not an omniscient, omnipotent control strategy, but rather a repetitive and somewhat clumsy template used by U.S. political elites (and relatedly, Mexican elites) to address dynamic and disruptive challenges in Latin America and related regions of the United States.