Abstract

Over the past decade, organized crime greatly increases the violence against the northern states in Mexico, if compared with the relative decline in Brazil and Colombia. Why different security policies to try to reduce the violence caused by drug trafficking? Mexico repeats the same phenomena of violence that Colombia during the 90's? What difference security models in Rio and the containment policy implemented in Medellin during the government of President Uribe? The analysis of criminal violence and civil wars subtype provides few tools given the differences between mafia organizations and insurgent groups. This article is based on the proposal that drug cartels are fighting not only by territory or for control of political power, but that its objectives are conditional state actors to work for them. The preferred by drug cartels medium is -threatening corruption or bribing officials. Our reading can observe that greater repression increases prices of bribery and promotes war between the cartels themselves, provided that two conditions are met (a) that corruption is widespread, and (b) requiring the cartels repression taking retaliation and revenge. Analyze changes in security policies helps explain the differences between them.