Twenty years of public policies against organized crime in Michoacán: evaluation and persistent challenges

https://doi.org/10.33110/cimexus200206

Abstract

This article critically analyzes two decades of public policies against organized crime in Michoacán (2002-2024), revealing their structural failure due to their reactive, fragmented nature and subordination to short-term political interests. Using a theoretical approach of hybrid governance—where state and criminal actors negotiate territorial control—the study integrates ethnographic methodology and interviews with officials, journalists, and citizens. The results reveal three phases: 1) Infiltration (2002-2008), with the co-optation of municipal governments; 2) Consolidation (2008-2018), where cartels penetrated legitimate economies (avocado, mining); and 3) Institutionalization (2018-2024), under the federal strategy of “hugs, not bullets,” which normalized tacit agreements with criminal groups. The conclusions underscore the need for a security model that breaks with political expediency, combats systemic corruption, and rebuilds institutions from the local level. Michoacán exemplifies how organized crime does not challenge the State, but rather inhabits it, demanding strategies that prioritize social justice over precarious stability.