ABSTRACT Current research often emphasizes the typological convergence of violent non-state actors, which according to this literature tend to mix the characteristics of actors conventionally understood as criminals, insurgents, terrorists, or warlords. In this article, we examine the adequacy of such proposals to explain the evolution of violent actors in Latin America. Through a comparative study of the long-term development of two important Latin American violent actors, the Colombian FARC and the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel, we arrive at the conclusion that convergence phenomena occur with much less frequency and intensity than suggested, and when they do occur, they are caused by mechanisms typically not considered in the literature. This may indicate a significant limitation regarding the empirical reach of the convergence hypothesis as well as a need for further conceptual clarification.

中文翻译：

---

拉丁美洲暴力非国家行为者的概念难题：对趋同假设的批判

摘要 当前的研究往往强调暴力非国家行为者的类型趋同，根据该文献，这些行为者倾向于混合通常被理解为罪犯、叛乱分子、恐怖分子或军阀的行为者的特征。在本文中，我们研究了这些建议是否足以解释拉丁美洲暴力行为者的演变。通过对两个重要的拉丁美洲暴力行为者哥伦比亚革命武装力量和墨西哥锡那罗亚卡特尔的长期发展进行比较研究，我们得出的结论是，收敛现象发生的频率和强度远低于建议的频率和强度，并且何时发生，它们是由文献中通常未考虑的机制引起的。