Insecurity and Violence as a New Power Relation in Latin America

Abstract

This article shows the growing activities related to the existence of three types of urban violence: the structural violence inherent in the existing social inequalities in Latino American countries, radical violence, and criminal violence. Neoliberal policies generate more inequality, exclusion, poverty, and alienation, which yield a rising tide of criminal and radical violence, which triggers more state violence and coercion, which, in turn, encourages more resistance from below. Violence and security have become a key link in the economic arena characterizing the Latin American metropolis.