Years of Life Lost in the War against Drug Cartels in Mexico during the Government of Calderon 2006-2012

Alejandro Aguirre, El Colegio de México
Fortino Vela Peón, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Xochimilco
Argelia Gallegos, Delegación Tlalpan

With the announcement of the Joint Operation Michoacán in December 2006 by President Felipe Calderón, the so called War against Narcotics started. Within its objectives was the one concerning the reduction in the number of homicides. Since the beginning of the Operation until 2013, a cumulative total of 123.955 intentional homicides had been reported, allegedly due to drug-related activities. The overall objective of this paper is to analyze the levels of mortality by homicide,as well as to quantify the years of life lost by those who have died during the War against Narcotics for five states of Mexico.