Alejandro Garcia de la Garza

Alejandro Garcia De La Garza has an MA in Conflict, Security and Development from the University of Sussex and is an associate area specialist for the Intelligence, Security and International Affairs section of CIMBRE, the Centre for Interdisciplinary Mexican-British Research think tank

Universal rights, double standards

What is the difference between the human-rights shortfalls of Venezuela and Mexico? Objectively, not much, but Washington has a different perspective.

By Alejandro Garcia de la Garza

/ 16 Mar 2015

Mexico: active civil society key to ending culture of impunity

A renewal of democracy should be the means to cleanse Latin America of its history of corruption and abuses of power. But as the Mexican case shows, unless democracy is extended by enhancing civil society, its promise will not be realised.

By Alejandro Garcia de la Garza

/ 26 Feb 2015

Mexico: student disappearances focus anger at abuse and impunity

Students shot dead by police, others “disappeared”, mass graves located … the absence of the rule of law and trampling on human rights in Mexico is sparking widespread protest.

By Alejandro Garcia de la Garza

/ 17 Oct 2014

Why are police becoming more like soldiers?

Militarisation of the police is a developing phenomenon, spreading into nominally democratic societies as the bonds of popular consent to the status quo weaken.

By Alejandro Garcia de la Garza

/ 1 Sep 2014

Droning on

Little is clear about the US renewal of drone strikes in Pakistan—except that they won’t be the last.

By Alejandro Garcia de la Garza

/ 19 Jun 2014

Mexico: terror and “terrorism”

A little-noticed security reform in Mexico threatens a major erosion of liberty by exploiting public fear to introduce a sweeping definition of “terrorism”.

By Alejandro Garcia de la Garza

/ 20 Feb 2014

Murder and Mexico’s security dilemma

Why is Mexico mired in organised, drug-related murder? In an extreme case of security dilemmas increasingly familiar elsewhere, the state has ceded its monopoly of legitimate force to irregular security companies—and is now considering legitimising vigilante groups.

By Alejandro Garcia de la Garza

/ 5 Feb 2014

From utopia to dystopia: technology, society and what we can do about it

The superficial post-war dream that technology would solve the world’s social problems has transformed into a nightmare of electronically enabled global surveillance and suppression. Yet with consumer-oriented industries replacing the military as the main driver of innovation, citizens are acquiri

By Alejandro Garcia de la Garza

/ 20 Dec 2013

Drones over the world

US drones are often thought of as focused entirely on action against Al-Qaeda and associates, particularly in Pakistan. But the CIA's expanding global net extends into the Pacific, linked to the surveillance operations of the National Security Agency.

By Alejandro Garcia de la Garza

/ 26 Nov 2013

The Mexican penitentiary system: how prisons became tools for the cartels

Far from being an instrument aimed at fighting crime and reintegrating former inmates in society, Mexican prisons act as a recruiting ground for the cartels. The lack of government response to this challenge illustrates its powerlessness in the war on drugs.

By Alejandro Garcia de la Garza

/ 27 Mar 2012

Mexico’s war on drugs: can you expect the military to function as police?

A side-effect of the war on drugs launched by President Calderon was to involve the army in carrying out police operations against gangs. However, this blurring of lines between both security institutions resulted in an increase in human rights violations.

By Alejandro Garcia de la Garza

/ 7 Mar 2012