Narco-Politics in the Americas
- About Event
- About Speaker
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Monday, Feb. 23rd. | 4:00p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
University Hall - ECC 1857----------------------------------------------
Prof. Laura Blume, a specialist in illicit economies and the political economy of the war on drugs, and Dr. Manuel Meléndez-Sánchez, a specialist in democratic resilience and the impact of organized crime on governance, share insights on Latin American security.
From the high-profile extradition of Maduro to discussions of military force in Mexico and the renewed invocation of the “Monroe Doctrine,” Latin America has received heightened media attention. This event goes beyond the news cycle to examine the drug trade, criminal organizations, and their far-reaching consequences for society, politics, and governance across the Americas. Join us for a timely discussion with scholars who have conducted extensive fieldwork in the region, including firsthand interviews with drug traffickers, citizens, and government officials.
This event is co-sponsored by the International Relations Program, Sociology, Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies, and History.
Laura Blume is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Nevada, Reno. She is also a faculty affiliate of the Gender, Race, and Identity (GRI) program. Prof. Blume earned her Ph.D. in political science from Boston University in 2020 and started at the University of Nevada, Reno that same year. Prof. Blume's research and teaching interests include the war on drugs, violence, illicit economies, criminal governance, immigration and corruption. She also is increasingly exploring gender dynamics within illicit markets.
Prof. Blume has a forthcoming book, The Art of Trafficking: How Politics Shape Narco-Strategies and Violence in Central America, that uses comparative ethnography to examine the ways in which political contexts influence drug-traffickers’ operational strategies and trafficking-related violence in Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.
Manuel Meléndez-Sánchez is a Postdoctoral Visiting Fellow at the University of Notre Dame’s Kellogg Institute for International Studies. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Harvard University in 2025.
Dr. Meléndez-Sánchez is a comparativist with a regional focus on Latin America. He studies the roots of democratic resilience, backsliding, and breakdown. Much of his work on these issues examines how organized crime and public insecurity undermine democratic institutions. He has conducted extensive fieldwork in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico.