FINAL PROJECT: PARAGRAPH

Hector Flores Since 2008, Mexico has been experiencing a critical level of violence and crime (especially homicides) associated with drug cartels. Most of this violence has affected young Mexicans in cities and urban zones across the country. As part of a more comprehensive security strategy, the Mexican government has proposed to launch a National Program for the Social Prevention of Violence and Crime which will implement security, civic culture and urban development policies to increase the resilience and urban quality of some of the cities that had been most affected by violence and crime. The government has proposed to implement the Program in around 50 priority cities according to their level of violence and risk factors. However, the methodology to choose these cities has not been made public and its not explicit in official documents. Critics have pointed out that cities have not been selected appropriately and thus the Program will not be correctly targeted. In my research, I want to provide a list of 50 priority cities according levels of homicides linked to drug cartels, and other risk factors, like social inequality among others. Viridiana Rios and David A. Shirk, Drug Violence in Mexico, Data and Analysis Through 2010, Trans-Border Institute, 2011 Commission for the Social Prevention of Violence and Crime, Mexico, Federal Government, 2013 Eduardo Guerrero, Security, Drugs, and Violence in Mexico: A Survey, 7th North American Forum, Washington, DC, 2011.