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Breaking the Law to Ensure Order: The Case of Tijuana (2007–2012)
Author(s) -
Passos Anaís M.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
bulletin of latin american research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.24
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 1470-9856
pISSN - 0261-3050
DOI - 10.1111/blar.13135
Subject(s) - state (computer science) , context (archaeology) , drug trafficking , order (exchange) , law , action (physics) , political science , set (abstract data type) , human rights , control (management) , criminology , business , law and economics , computer security , sociology , computer science , economics , management , geography , physics , archaeology , finance , algorithm , quantum mechanics , programming language
This paper explores how state agents and civilians justify human rights violations when the military perform police tasks. Based on a set of interviews and documents, it analyses the actions of the armed forces and the police during a military‐led operation that targeted drug trafficking organisations in Tijuana. In a context of limited civilian control over the armed forces and the police, the paper identifies two discourses that supported the illegal action of state agents: the construction of a foreign other who does not belong to society and the need to use violence to accomplish a greater good.