ELN News
What Does Coronavirus Mean for Criminal Governance in Latin America?
A number of criminal groups across Latin America are ordering ceasefires and exerting control over local communities as fears of the coronavirus sweep across the region, raising questions about the legitimacy and power of such groups and the extent of government presence in the areas in which they...
ELN Profile
ELN
The National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional - ELN) is one of the two main guerrilla armies with left-wing political ideologies operating in Colombia. Initially a Marxist-Leninist nationalist movement, it now appears more focused on kidnapping, extortion and attacks on economic infrastructure. And while it eschewed drug trafficking for decades, it has recently been linked to...
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Analysis /
Overview of Violence Against Social Leaders in Colombia
Social leaders across Colombia were murdered at an almost unprecedented rate in 2019, and for a wide range of causes. Criminal gangs seeking to protect their...
Analysis /
GameChangers 2019: 10 Predictions for Organized Crime in 2020
The year was one of political tumult, fed in no small part by organized crime and its favored weapon: corruption. The region appeared to take a step backwards...
Analysis /
GameChangers 2019: Latin America’s Top 10 Criminal Groups
Colombia’s last rebel army is now the most powerful criminal syndicate in Latin America, as it expands across Colombia and far into Venezuela, deepening its...
Analysis /
GameChangers 2019: Illegal Mining, Latin America’s Go-To Criminal Economy
The criminal, economic and political dynamics behind illegal gold rushes this past year in Venezuela and Ecuador were very different. But both countries illustrate...
Analysis /
GameChangers 2019: As Venezuela Sinks, Maduro’s Criminal Ties Keep Him Afloat
Venezuela remained mired in crisis throughout 2019, yet Nicolás Maduro actually consolidated his regime. How did he do...
Brief /
Bojayá: Colombia’s First Violent Flashpoint of 2020
Just hours into the New Year, some 300 armed men raided a small town in the Bojayá municipality of Chocó, in northwest Colombia, where drug-related violence that...
Analysis /
GameChangers 2019: Backwards to the Future
Welcome to InSight Crime's Criminal GameChangers 2019, where we highlight the most important trends in organized crime in the Americas over the course of the year....
Analysis /
Guyana’s Mining Region is Open Door to Venezuelan Organized Crime
A recent Crisis Group report explores criminal dynamics in the Guyanese mining region bordering Venezuela, revealing how the chaos and violence of Venezuela’s...
Analysis /
Increase in Violence Leads to More Forced Displacements in Colombia
A recent report has shown the scale to which forced displacements due to violence are increasing in Colombia, primarily affecting vulnerable groups like...