Foreign Drug Traffickers in South American Narco-Crime: The case of El enviado de Medellín (1993) and Bioy (2012)

Abstract

The novel El enviado de Medellín (1993) by Chilean journalist Ignacio González Camus and the novel Bioy (2012) by Peruvian writer Diego Trelles Paz, while divergent in chronotopic terms, intersect within the realm of both detective narrative and narconovel, as they both adhere to and challenge the constituent elements associated with these subgenres as proposed by Leonardo Padura and others authors, within the contemporary detective sphere, and by Danilo Santos, Ingrid Urgelles, and Ainhoa Vásquez within the narcoliterary domain, among other scholars. Notably, Colombian figure Geoffrey Davenport and Mexican persona Natalio Correa, while depicted as foreign narcoprotagonists, also unveil the domestic networks that facilitate their endeavors, connecting to a history predating the migrants' arrival. This repositioning disrupts the xenophobic imagery perpetuated by official discourses. Hence, the analysis of these two South American novels shall provide distinct perspectives on the issue on both local and continental scales, affording avenues for transversal outlooks that transcend legalistic parameters. These works emerge as representative constituents of an enduring Chilean and Peruvian literary body, continually expanding and reflecting the systemic complexities that have invariably accompanied the illicit drug trade within the realms of reality.