While political scientists had previously tended to focus on rural guerilla movements and insurgents, there is now a wealth of empirical evidence that groups wielding "coercive capacity that either parallels or challenges that held by the state" exist in many Latin American and Caribbean cities Davis, 2010, p.
Mientras que los politólogos han tendido a enfocarse en movimientos guerrilleros rurales e insurgentes, ahora hay un caudal de evidencia empírica sobre la existencia de grupos que ejercen una "capacidad coercitiva que iguala o amenaza la del Estado" en muchas ciudades latinoamericanas y caribeñas Davis, 2010, p. 398.