"The author masterfullypieces together and presents a comprehensive examination of the history andevolution of the war on drugs in the region and its inadvertentconsequences. Marcy's work is important and relevant." --Nilda M. Garcia, LatinAmerican Politics and Society "[A] valuable and insightful book." --Gavin O'Toole, Latin American Review of Books "Rigorously researched and responsibly told, Narcostates is a wonderful, comprehensive overview of the relationship between governments and drug traffickers from the 1970s to the modern day." --Nathan P. Jones, Sam Houston State University How did Mexico and Central America become a lawless corridor for conveying narcotics into the United States? How did the drug cartels rise to power, succeeding in institutionalizing the narco-industry? Why have the police and military failed to rein the cartels in? What have been the consequences of the US-led "war on drugs?" William Marcy's Narcostates provides answers to these questions and more. Tracing the evolution of narcotrafficking across the region, and drawing on newly declassified documents, Marcy unravels the tangled web of violence, corruption, and political instability that has empowered drug trafficking organizations since the 1970s.

CONTENTS: Foreword--De Leon Petta Gomes da Costa. The Opening of a Narcotrafficking Corridor. Early US Counternarcotics Efforts in Mexico. "Cocaine Guns" and Civil War in Central America. The Emergence of the Mexican Cartel Networks. Mexico in Crisis. The Colombian Cartels Expand Their Reach. The War on Drugs Spills into Central America.

Mexico's Cartel Wars. The Militarization of the US-Mexican War on Drugs. The Mexican Cartels and Youth Gangs in Central America. Narcotrafficking and the Immigration Crisis. Closing the Corridor? Appendix: Narcotraffickers by Name and by Cartel Affiliation.