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2. Tren de Aragua: A Gang, Not Terrorist Invaders
- Author:
- Elliott Young
- Publication Date:
- 04-2025
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
- Abstract:
- Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to target Venezuelan migrants relies on a false narrative about Tren de Aragua and the Venezuelan state, and sets a dangerous precedent for immigrant rights.
- Topic:
- Immigration, Deportation, Gangs, and Tren de Aragua
- Political Geography:
- South America, Venezuela, and United States of America
3. Analyzing how rampant organized crime is impacting Latin America’s stability ?
- Author:
- FARAS
- Publication Date:
- 04-2024
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Future for Advanced Research and Studies (FARAS)
- Abstract:
- The ongoing violent tensions engulfing some Latin American countries, starting with Ecuador in the east and extending to Haiti in the Caribbean in the west, raise questions about the motives behind the growing illicit activities of organized crime across the continent. Those activities include drug production and trafficking, human trafficking, arms smuggling, and others. Such transnational crimes pose security threats and challenges to the countries of the region and neighboring states, foremost among them the United States, which has historically regarded Latin America as its backyard, allowing no one to approach the continent or interfere in its affairs without prior permission.
- Topic:
- Crime, Political stability, Violence, Organized Crime, Gangs, and Regional Security
- Political Geography:
- Latin America, Haiti, and Ecuador
4. Beyond Mexico’s criminal gangs: Hybrid violence in Puebla, Mexico, and Veracruz states
- Author:
- Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
- Publication Date:
- 05-2024
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
- Abstract:
- Since the beginning of 2024, reports of violent incidents targeting political figures have frequently made their way into the news in the states of Mexico, Puebla, and Veracruz. On 23 March, several armed men on motorcycles killed the mayoral candidate of the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) party running in Acatzingo municipality in Puebla, adding yet another victim to the list of candidates, current and former officials, relatives of politicians, and election officers who have been the targets of violence in recent months. These recent incidents are part of a repeated pattern of violence. Situated in central Mexico, the states of Mexico, Puebla, and Veracruz feature among the eight most affected by violence targeting political figures since 2018.
- Topic:
- Crime, Politics, Assassination, Gangs, and Hybrid Violence
- Political Geography:
- Latin America and Mexico
5. Gang violence in the Caribbean reaches farther than Haiti
- Author:
- Sandra Pellegrini
- Publication Date:
- 10-2024
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
- Abstract:
- In recent years, Haiti has made headlines for unprecedented levels of gang violence, with gangs increasingly challenging state authorities and expanding their grip over the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area and beyond, which exerts a heavy toll on civilians. Yet, this worsening security situation is not confined to Haiti; other countries and territories in the Caribbean, particularly Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and Trinidad and Tobago, have experienced a surge in gang violence amid their fragmented and volatile gang landscapes.
- Topic:
- Violence, Gangs, and Regional Security
- Political Geography:
- Latin America, Caribbean, and Haiti
6. Deadly Rio de Janeiro: Armed Violence and the Civilian Burden
- Author:
- Bhavani Castro and Julia Links Franciotti
- Publication Date:
- 02-2023
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
- Abstract:
- The public security situation in Brazil is complicated, and particularly in Rio de Janeiro state, which has high levels of violence and criminality. The presence of multiple different criminal groups fighting for territory, coupled with abusive government measures to tackle criminal activity, has created a deadly, high-risk environment for civilians in the state. In 2021, Rio de Janeiro registered 27 violent deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, a rate lower than states like Bahia and Ceará but significantly higher than the national average of 22. Rio de Janeiro also ranked first among Brazilian states in the number of deaths recorded during police interventions, with at least 1,356 people reportedly killed.1 In May 2021, for example, a police operation against drug traffickers in the Jacarezinho community in Rio de Janeiro city resulted in 29 reported fatalities. While authorities claimed that all those killed in the operation were linked to criminal groups, witnesses reported that police officers entered civilian houses and carried out extrajudicial executions.2 The Jacarezinho operation was the deadliest single event recorded by ACLED in Brazil in 2021. A year later, in May 2022, military and federal police forces clashed with the Red Command (CV) in the Vila Cruzeiro community in the Penha Complex, resulting in at least 26 reported fatalities, including civilians. These are not isolated incidents, but rather indicative of the increasing lethality of violence in Rio de Janeiro in 2021 and 2022, and the rising threat to civilians.
- Topic:
- Crime, Elections, Violence, Civilians, Militias, Gangs, and Public Security
- Political Geography:
- Brazil, South America, and Rio de Janeiro
7. Fighting Gangs Under the State of Exception in Honduras
- Author:
- Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
- Publication Date:
- 12-2023
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
- Abstract:
- A year after the implementation of the state of exception on 6 December 2022, this report explores the evolution of violence likely related to gang activity between January and November 2023. ACLED data show that the security measures implemented thus far have yielded mixed results. Armed clashes and violence targeting civilians have continued unabated throughout 2023 due to persisting competition among gangs, especially in the country’s overcrowded prisons where violence has surged. Gangs continue to extort transportation workers in order to generate revenues, albeit the rate of these events has slowed down in 2023 compared to 2022. The geography of the violence points to gang violence moderately increasing and spreading beyond the crime hotspots of Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula. This finding substantiates claims that criminal groups have expanded to other strategic areas for drug trafficking and production, a phenomenon potentially exacerbated by state of exception measures and increased pressure on gangs in the most populous urban areas due to frequent law enforcement operations.
- Topic:
- Security, Law Enforcement, Violence, and Gangs
- Political Geography:
- Latin America and Honduras
8. A Remedy for El Salvador’s Prison Fever
- Author:
- International Crisis Group
- Publication Date:
- 10-2022
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Following a spate of murders, the Salvadoran government ordered mass roundups of suspected criminal gang members, throwing more than 53,000 in jail. The clampdown is popular but unsustainable. Authorities should develop a path out of gang life that members can choose.
- Topic:
- Crime, Governance, Police, and Gangs
- Political Geography:
- Central America, North America, and El Salvador
9. Trapped in Conflict: Reforming Military Strategy to Save Lives in Colombia
- Author:
- International Crisis Group
- Publication Date:
- 09-2022
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Colombia’s new president, Gustavo Petro, says he will work to bring “total peace” to the countryside, including areas roiled by violent competition among criminal and other armed groups. This task will require significant changes to military approaches devised for fighting the insurgencies of the past.
- Topic:
- Crime, Governance, Leadership, Conflict, Peace, and Gangs
- Political Geography:
- Colombia and South America
10. The State of Exception: Gangs as a Neoliberal Scapegoat in El Salvador
- Author:
- Leisy Abrego and Steven Osuna
- Publication Date:
- 09-2022
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Institution:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Abstract:
- On 26 March 2022, gangs in the small Central American country of El Salvador killed 62 people, making it the deadliest day in modern Salvadoran history.1 In the span of just three days, between 25 and 27 March, there were a total of 87 seemingly random murders of people laboring and commuting in El Salvador. In line with the common political practice since the 1990s, Salvadoran politi- cians zeroed in on punishing gangs, whom they have blamed for all social ills. Indeed, the brutal intercommunal violence of gangs is horrifying and dehuman- izing in ways that permeate everyday life for large swaths of Salvadoran society. 3ese realities make gangs particularly visible and therefore politically useful for the ruling elite, who can and frequently do turn to gangs as a distraction from their own corruption. 3e proliferation of gangs and violence, however, was not inevitable, and a political and media focus solely on gangs misses the larger picture. Gangs, and the social conditions surrounding them in El Salvador, are ultimately a symptom of a larger root problem: neoliberal capitalism. To best understand the conditions of the present moment, we trace how neoliberalism developed in El Salvador, why it has thrived across party lines, how it is fueling the actions of this particular Salvadoran administration, and how a growing grassroots cross-border movement is resisting it.
- Topic:
- Neoliberalism, Violence, Organized Crime, and Gangs
- Political Geography:
- Central America and El Salvador