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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Narcomundo: How Narcotraficantes Gained Control of Northern Mexico and Beyond, 1945-1985 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in History by Carlos Armando Hernández 2015 © Copyright by Carlos Armando Hernández 2015 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION Narcomundo: How Narcotraficantes Gained Control of Northern Mexico and Beyond, 1945-1985 by Carlos Armando Hernández Doctor of Philosophy in History University of California, Los Angeles, 2015 Professor James W. Wilkie, Chair Mexico’s official history does not properly address the Drug Wars and its effect on the nation as well as the U.S. – Mexico border region, including criminal spillover between the two countries especially since 1911. Drawing from evidence gathered at Mexico’s National Archives – specifically declassified documents from Mexico’s secret police files – contemporary news accounts from Tijuana, Mexico City, and California, as well as court cases and long ignored political biographies, I trace the historical origins of the Drug Wars in Northern Mexico extending into Mexico City; a history of drugs, dissidence, and violence. In my view, the problem of drugs in Mexico must be examined in Three Phases, two of which – Phase One and Two – I take up in the volume. The First Phase is from 1911-1945. The Second Phase is from 1945-1985. The Third Phase, since 1985, covers the rise of what I refer to as turf wars between competing drug trafficking organizations ii for the control of specific corridors vital for the production and distribution of drugs into the United States. The First Phase goes back to the year 1911 when General and later Governor Esteban Cantú arrived to defend the Northern Territory of Baja California against incursions from Southern California by the Flores Magón brothers during the start of the Mexican Revolution.
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