In the Name of Poppy: Eradication and Counterinsurgency in Southern Mexico

• Published in: Journal of illicit economies and development Vol. 4; no. 2; pp. 128 - 143
• Main Authors: Alvarez, Irene, Gaussens, Pierre, Frissard, Paul
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: LSE Press 02-12-2022
• Subjects: army; counterinsurgency; eradication; guerrero; guerrilla; mexico; poppy
• DOI: 10.31389/jied.117
• EISSN: 2516-7227

This paper seeks to demonstrate that, in Mexico, the policy of eradication of poppy crops has not only been motivated by its official reason, the anti-drug fight, but also been instrumentalized for the militarization of certain regions for counterinsurgent purposes, that is, to deal with guerrilla activity. Of an empirical nature, this demonstration is based on a mixed methodology, both quantitative and qualitative, as well as on two case studies: the municipalities of Atoyac and Ayutla in the southern state of Guerrero. The main finding of the investigation lies in an anomalous concentration of eradication tasks by the army in both municipalities in the late 1990s and early 2000s, despite relatively marginal drug production. This contradiction finds an explanation beyond the poppy, in the emergence there of two new guerrillas, around the massacres of Aguas Blancas (1995) and El Charco (1998), respectively.