The State under the State

Abstract

Illicit extractive economies (IEEs) —drug trafficking, illegal mining and illegal logging— have ceased operating on the margins of the Peruvian state; instead, they have become actors with the capacity to influence political and administrative decision-making. This article analyzes the mechanisms these IEEs employ to penetrate state structures, taking advantage of institutional voids, corruption and structural weaknesses. Based on a documentary review of academic research, specialized reports and investigative journalism, the study reconstructs patterns of state insertion and proposes a four-level typology of state capture: invisibility, local influence, regional capture and total capture.

The findings reveal differentiated dynamics. Drug trafficking achieved total state capture during the 1990s; although it no longer operates at that level, it currently maintains a regional capture, through persistent links with public officials, political parties and strategic actors. Illegal mining, highly profitable and expanding rapidly across the territory, also operates at a regional capture level —and is on the rise— as reflected in political financing, the co-optation of authorities and normative influence. Illegal logging, in contrast, deploys a silent form of capture based on strategic ties with local governments, technical officials and other actors, situating it at a level of local influence.

IEEs do not operate in isolation: they articulate with one another and with criminal organizations, generating increasingly complex and robust illicit circuits. This phenomenon weakens democratic governance, institutionalizes corruption and consolidates forms of state capture that undermine state capacity and hinder effective responses.