Analysis /
El Salvador Homicides Thrusts MS13 Back Into Official Discourse
El Salvador ended 2018 on a good note, according to official homicide statistics, but a recent uptick in homicides has thrust the MS13 back into the national...
Analysis /
Wave of Killings Showcase Puerto Rico’s Ongoing Weakened Security
A string of brazen homicides in Puerto Rico, some in broad daylight, has shocked residents and drawn attention to the weakened state of local law enforcement on the...
Brief /
Arrest of Venezuela’s New Political Star Potential Misstep by Police
Members of Venezuela’s political police detained and later freed the country’s new president of Parliament in an event that resembled a kidnapping, showcasing...
Analysis /
Fragmentation: The Violent Tailspin of Mexico’s Dominant Cartels
Fragmentation has come to define Mexico’s criminal landscape as the days of monolithic drug cartel structures have ended, leaving behind smaller, more volatile...
Brief /
New Year’s Bloodshed Casts Doubt on Honduras Security Gains
Authorities in Honduras have touted a decline in homicides recently, but a series of massacres to start 2019 raises questions about the ongoing security situation...
Colombia /
Shadow Tourism Industry Smuggles Migrants from Venezuela to Colombia
Tourism agencies and taxi cooperatives are the newest fronts being used to hide migrants smuggling at the border between Venezuela and Colombia, a business that...
Analysis /
Oil Thieves Convenient Scapegoats for Mexico’s Gasoline Shortages
A crackdown on oil theft has seen the president of Mexico stop major fuel pipelines, causing severe fuel shortages in parts of the country, but are oil thieves...
Analysis /
GameChangers 2018: 5 Reasons LatAm Organized Crime Will Strengthen in 2019
It is hard to be optimistic for 2019. The current trends all point to a strengthening of organized crime throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, as the...
Mexico /
Mexico’s New National Guard Unlikely To Stem Crimewave
Mexico’s new president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (known as AMLO), was sworn in on December 1, after a five-month transition period following his landslide...
Analysis /
Venezuela Criminal Structures Bolster Maduro in Second Term
The swearing in of Nicolás Maduro for a second presidential term demonstrates just how deeply entrenched organized crime structures are in Venezuela’s...
Analysis /
GameChangers 2018: The Criminal ‘Winners’ in Latin America
Which criminal structures have gained the most strength in Latin America in 2018? Three groups, all based in different nations, have engaged in aggressive...
Analysis /
Illegal Logging in Chihuahua is Now Mexico Cartel Territory
The six bodies, minus their heads, were dumped just before dawn on a morning in late October. They were left in front of a gas station on the outskirts of Creel,...
