Youth`s meanings and experiences with violence and drug trafficking in Sinaloa: A Case Study of the Culiacanazo

Abstract

On October 17, 2019, an overwhelming wave of violence was experienced in Culiacan, Sinaloa after the failed operation to capture Ovidio Guzmán López. The Culiacanazo, as it was later referred, set a precedent in the history of drug trafficking and violence in Mexico. The confrontation between the Sinaloa cartel and State armed forces attempted against the safety and security of the civilian population. In this study, the event is analyzed through narrations and interviews we conducted with university students. Our purpose was to interpret the experiences, meanings and resignifications of violence, drug traffickers, drug trafficking and Mexican government. Likewise, to describe the forms of access, appropriation, socialization of information and the creation of support networks during violent events. We present the results through the following categories: recognition and description of the event; access, dissemination and appropriation of information; support networks; and ideas associated with violence, drug trafficking, drug traffickers and the government.