Brief /
Costa Rica Report Blames ‘Organized Crime’ for Spike in Homicides
A government report on homicides in Costa Rica concludes that organized crime is driving the rising violence in the country, but the study's shaky methodology...
Analysis /
Crisis in the Prisons: Five Guidelines When Reforming the Penal System
The high and growing rate of imprisonment in the region is not leading to lower rates of violence and crime. In other words, we know that prisons are not the...
Brief /
Latin America Scores Poorly in New ‘Global Impunity Index’
Nearly every country in Latin America is struggling to combat high rates of impunity, according to a new report that analyzes structural and human rights conditions...
Brief /
Costa Rica Local Drug Consumption Fueling Rising Murder Rate
An increase in domestic drug sales and consumption in Costa Rica appears to be fueling rising homicides, but authorities have tended to blame foreign crime groups...
Analysis /
Costa Rica Criminal Record Reform Could Improve Women’s Post-Prison Prospects
Ana Chaves was one of the hundreds of women who benefited from the "77 bis" reform, which reduced prison sentences to between three and eight years for the crime of...
Brief /
Are Crime Groups Increasingly Corrupting Costa Rica Police?
Authorities in Costa Rica have arrested a former high-level police official for allegedly guarding a large cocaine shipment, suggesting that Costa Rican criminals...
Brief /
Illegal Gold Mining in Costa Rica Suggests Diversifying Criminal Landscape
Recent reports suggest illegal gold mining and the associated trafficking of mercury are increasing in Costa Rica, providing evidence that organized crime groups in...
Brief /
Costa Rica Officials Warn of Growing Maritime Drug Trade Amid Cocaine Surge
Security officials in Costa Rica say they are incapable of stopping transnational drug traffickers from using the country's pristine beaches as stopover points for...
Analysis /
US Report Shows Revitalized Central America Cocaine Corridor
The US State Department named seven Central American countries as havens for laundering the proceeds of drug trafficking and organized crime, and described the...
