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ResumoApresenta-se uma reflexão sobre a criminalização das atividades dos representantes dos Estados, que resulta de um estudo de casos (o narcotráfico num Estado da Amazônia brasileira). Distingue-se duas fontes de rendas ilegais – as atividades criminais e o desfalque de fundos ou serviços públicos –, cuja captação supõe o recurso com dois princípios genéricos de corrupção, a neutralização e o abuso de poder do Estado. Devem ser distinguidas duas formas não mercantis de colocação em circulação da riqueza: os manás dos clientes (legais ou ilegais) e as quotas de direito de cidadãos. A reflexão sobre o Estado e a sua corrupção não parece por ser levado de forma satisfatória, a não ser que se percebe (como para qualquer instituição) de que forma é garantido o ideal que comenda e legitima a sua existência social. Tratando-se do Estado, este ideal é o bem público.

This article describes some of the main social and political consequences of the emergence of the cocaine trade in Brazilian Amazonia, taking as an example the state of Acre. Drug trafficking, which concerns all sections of society, has, like other illegal networks, become an alternative to the rubber industry, which has been in crisis since the 1980s. Its implications differ, however, in the northern and southern parts of the state. In the latter, especially in the capital, Acre, the development of a local market of urban consumers is closely connected to police corruption and the illegal use of violence by law enforcement agencies. In the former, where machinery for the social redistribution of illegal income seems to be more effective, the cocaine trade is contributing to a degree of prosperity, thanks in particular to recent growth in the service sector. While violence is, comparatively speaking, less necessary as a guarantee of social control in that region, the control exercised by drug barons and business people over the executive branches of the state means that political life as a whole is criss‐crossed by relationships forged in the criminal world.

In this article we seek to highlight two generic patterns of state delinquency connected to drug trafficking: on the one hand, corruption through the neutralisation of the state's power, when the initiative is in the hands of drug traffickers, and, on the other, corruption through abuse of power when the initiative lies with civil servants. The studies presented in this chapter suggest, indeed, that the predominance of one or the other form of corruption is greatly dependent upon the history of the state and the balance of power between public institutions and drug trafficking networks. For example, the case of Mexico, where the various administrations remained for a long time under the de facto tutelage of a single party, may bear a greater similarity in this respect to the case of China than to that of Brazil, India, or Colombia. Beyond the differences, and regardless of the extent to which traffickers are independent of the power of the state, we raise the political question of clientelism.

Drug trafficking has deeply affected social, political, & economic life in the Brazilian states bordering Bolivia. This article analyzes the Amazonian cocaine cycle from the early 1980s in the federal state of Rondonia. It considers (1) how the first major drug trafficking networks were formed; (2) the Madeira river gold rush & the wider access to cocaine resulting from the barter of stolen or contraband goods, together with the development of a large-scale domestic drug market in Brazil; & (3) the commercial decline of Brazil's border towns & the boom enjoyed by inland towns as a result of the drug trade. These historical developments are linked to the rise of power of certain drug traffickers within the federal state machinery through their election to public office. 1 Map. Adapted from the source document.

Highlights two generic patterns of state delinquency connected to drug trafficking: (1) corruption through the neutralization of the state's power, when the initiative is in the hands of drug traffickers; & (2) corruption through abuse of power when the initiative lies with civil servants. The studies presented suggest that the predominance of one or the other form of corruption is greatly dependent on the history of the state & the balance of power between public institutions & drug trafficking networks. The case of Mexico, where the various administrations remained for a long time under the de facto tutelage of a single party, may bear a greater similarity in this respect to the case of China than to that of Brazil, India, or Colombia. Beyond the differences, & regardless of the extent to which traffickers are independent of the power of the state, we raise the political question of clientelism. 1 Photograph. Adapted from the source document.

About some good of scientific blindness.
The manner in which Mozambican society is being ideologically penetrated by State power reflects a certain primary ignorance — assumed politically — of social relations of the peoples over whom authority is exercised. Be it the disparities in rural social relation, the social expectations surrounding racial distinction, taking into consideration indigenous languages etc., all are issues around which a taboo has been created by the microcosm of FRELIMO cadres, be they white, mullato or internationalist experts.