The Mexico Violence Resource Project is an independent non-profit effort to provide nuanced analysis of crime and violence in Mexico. It was founded in 2020 by Cecilia Farfán-Mendez and Michael Lettieri with the goal of bringing together academics, policymakers, journalists, and activists for thoughtful discussions and innovative research collaborations. It has received support from UC San Diego’s Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, and the University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation.
The project publishes special projects and investigations, opinion essays, research briefs, and maintains an index of key data on violence.
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To contact us, please email admin@mexicoviolence.org
Submissions and Collaborations
We are a community-driven project and welcome collaborations from both scholars and individuals outside academia. For our open call for contributions click here for English, and here for Spanish. To learn more about our editorial guidelines click here for English, and here for Spanish. Submissions are welcome in both English and Spanish.
We also publish special collaborations in partnership with researchers and news outlets. Please contact us directly at submissions@mexicoviolence.org for more information or to pitch ideas.
About Our Logo
Our goal is for Mexico Violence Resource Project to serve as a companion for those seeking a better understanding and exchanging ideas as we attempt to understand the complexities of contemporary Mexico.
We worked with Dante Aguilera Benítez a member of the Taller de Gráfica Popular Juan Panadero in Culiacán, Sinaloa. The Nahua-inspired iconography uses Miquiztli that symbolizes silence, emptiness, and death, Xoloitzcuintli, the dog who protects the living and guides the souls of the dead through the underworld, and the Talhtolli that means speech.
During the design process, and rooted in our experiences working with victims, we found profound metaphorical resonance in this symbology and the duality of life and death that it represents.
Managing Editors
Dr. Cecilia Farfán-Méndez is head of security research programs at the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies at the University of California, San Diego. Her research examines when and why DTOs pursue additional criminal enterprises, the methods used in money laundering, and their different propensities for violence.
Dr. Michael Lettieri is a researcher and consultant. He has worked with InSight Crime, Freedom House, and the US Institute of Peace. He specializes in democracy, freedom of expression, gender violence, and the social impacts of security policies.