Continuing the analysis of the “Los Zetas” recent capture of the media’s interest in their gang activities, this article looks at the ritualized death of one of the gang members killed in Culiacan, Mexico and more in part on the burials made for hit men who have died in service of their bosses. The corpse of this particular gang member is topped off with the iconic picture and quotation from the movie Scarface. I find it interesting how Hagedorn does not delve much into any study of the relationship of iconic movies that revolve around plots of organized crime and gangs, yet there is clearly some level of prominence that they have in the world of gangs. One may argue that messages and associations made with particular movies have an equal if not greater effect than that of their musical counterpart today.
Going beyond this, there is significance to the level of attention paid to the formalities that follow death in gangs. It hints at one of the necessary processes of an institution that operates outside the confines of the state and mainstream conformity. This process is the need for the institution to affirm the identities of its constituents at all stages of their integration into the organization. Credibility or even dis-credibility in death is just another stage in the gang’s institutional process just like any other organization. As Hagedorn states:
What we can learn from a quick glance at the four corners of the globe is that gangs and other kinds of armed non-state actors are a normal presence. The loss of faith in the state has been replace by faith in more local tangible bodies and, as Castells demonstrates, by the “power of identity.” (26 Hagedorn)
This just reinforces the necessity for the “Los Zetas” to have patterns of behavior that addresses matters such as these that may arise. It is a matter of survival both at the individual level and more notably the organizational level. Hagedorn alludes to this in page 8:
Departing from classic organizational theory, Selznick found that an institution’s main goal was not just to rationally accomplish a specific task but also to find the means for survival…. As organizations institutionalize, they develop rituals and ceremonies that distinguish them from other similar organizations, and come up with an apocryphal organizational history. (8 Hagedorn)
The myths that may emerge in the homage paid to fallen hit men/ gunmen like “Lupito” is not as important in terms as authenticity as they are in terms of their ability to further sustain the organization’s structure and continued pursuit of objectives even after key figures pass away.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/04/16/mexico.death/index.html