Authorities say that homicides are rising in Maceio, the world's third most violent city, thanks to the spread of crack cocaine across Brazil.
Authorities in Mexico nearly captured Joaquin Guzman, alias 'El Chapo,' in late February 2012. Along with a rare video showing Guzman at work, the elusive Sinaloa Cartel leader has been unusually visible in recent days.
One faction of Peruvian guerrilla group the Shining Path has issued a call for dialogue with the government, but the odds of the authorities taking them up on the offer are slim.
Colombia's largest rebel group the FARC announced its new top commander is Rodrigo Londoño Echeverry, alias "Timochenko." The announcement follows the death of its previous leader "Alfonso Cano" on November 4.
On Tuesday, May 12, 2011, some 10 SUVs and pickups with tinted windows pulled up to a local gasoline station in Coban, the capital of Alta Verapaz state, north Guatemala. The men were heavily armed and flaunting the fact. The gasoline station is about a half block from the national police headquarters in Coban. They filled their four-by-fours with close to 150 gallons of gasoline, then drove about 100 km north along a major highway to start a week-long criminal spree that has shaken the foundations of this country of 14 million people.
Buried in President Calderon's speech on a Monterrey arson attack which left more than 50 dead was the key to why it happened: the rise of illegal gambling establishments in Mexico under his watch, and the emerging battle in the underworld for control of these money-laundering havens.
One year after the massacre of 72 migrants in Tamaulipas, north Mexico, none of the killers have been brought to justice. Tying up the loose ends in the story means understanding how and why the migrants became targets.
A troubling new trend is surfacing in Mexico's fight against organized crime: deaths in confrontations between Mexican military personnel and suspected criminals are skyrocketing. The rise could mean many things, none of them good.
In a video interview, a hitman talks calmly about killing 300 people in his career working for a Mexican cartel, offering a snapshot of just how fragmented Mexico's "drug war" has become.
From Mexico to Brazil, sending the army to areas overrun by organized crime has become the default government response. However, this often does little to alter the criminal landscape in the long term, and may even make the situation worse.
