Resumo

CACHO TORRES, Angélica María. Between utility and coercion. Defectors: a complex reality of independent Mexico (1820-1842). Estud. hist. mod. contemp. Mex [online]. 2013, n.45, pp.31-68. ISSN 0185-2620.

This article analyses the case of defectors as a problem of the nineteenth-century society framed in other case processes that made the problem more difficult to be resolved. On one hand we have a marginal condition that could change according to the prevailing circumstances, for -once caught- they could become useful replacements in the absence of men. On the other hand, we have several factors that allowed them to avoid justice or lessen the penalties, because of the political instability in the country, the continuing budget deficit, gaps and inconsistencies in legislation, as well as the jurisdiction between the authorities in resolving cases. This desire of contention between various authorities and law problems allowed defectors to benefit in order to avoid the rigor of military law.

Palavras-chave : Defector; army; instability; punishment; laws.