Mexico's Turbulent History: Amid Peace, Violence and Drug Trafficking
On Friday, 1 June 2012, professor Federico Seyde, who has a Law Degree from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana de la Ciudad de México and a Doctoral Degree in Political Science from the University of Essex, gave a conference for students in the UIC Bachelor's degree programme in Political Science and Criminology. Seyde spoke about Mexico's development as a nation and the ups and downs it has gone through.
During the
conference, titled "Development and the Current State of Politics in Mexico", Professor
Seyde introduced Mexico’s historical and political context in the 19th and 20th
centuries and the difficulties it has faced in its development as a nation. “It
has been complicated”, Seyde said, “and it has been characterized by
alternating periods of relative social stability, which have made social and
economic development possible, with periods of instability and violence, which
have been catalysts for deep institutional change”.
One of the
most turbulent areas in Mexican history is its drug trafficking problem.
Fernando Seyde focused his talk on the country’s current political situation
and its head-on fight against drug trafficking, which has yielded discouraging
results so far.
"The
so-called 'war on drug trafficking' started six years ago", the professor said.
“Since then, the country has found itself immersed in a state of generalized
violence. Given this situation, as Mexico approaches the 2012 federal electoral
process, it is essential to conduct a critical analysis of the structural
problems that ‘Mexican democracy’ has had to deal with in the recent past and
will most certainly have to deal with in the immediate future”.