The intricacy to understand public information related to the fight against drug-trafficking, has resulted in the emergence of a series of myths and fallacies surrounding the violence derived from the so-called “war against drugs.”
Central America faces a wide range of challenges in the global context, of which organized crime, access to trade and financing, and outbound migration are a few. This is a compilation of the most relevant Dialogue’s reports on the region.
Sending back 200,000 Salvadorans to an already strained region flies in the face of the objectives of the Alliance for Prosperity, and is a surefire way to worsen the social ills that lie at the root of the massive exodus to the United States. A chaotic Central America is a story with no winners except criminal syndicates.
Covid-19 is transforming organized crime. In addition to heightening the risk of violence, the pandemic is also indirectly strengthening the social, economic, and political clout of several criminal organizations in the same way that the Italian mafia and Japanese Yakuza emerged stronger after the great dislocations of the Second World War. Crime kingpins know full well that law enforcement and criminal justice systems are overstretched, and that prisons are bursting at the seams. They also know that an economic depression is coming, which may increase the risk of violence. It is not entirely clear if governments are similarly alert.
Robert Muggah
Articles & Op-Eds ˙
˙ Unfulfilled Promises: Latin America Today
On February 17, 2021, the Inter-American Dialogue hosted the online event “Biden’s Central America Plan – Perspectives from the Region” in partnership with Creative Associates International. Taking into account the Biden administration’s plan for Central America, speakers addressed the region’s doubts, needs and aspirations with respect to US partnerships toward short-term and long-term development in the region.
Across the Americas, political leadership committed to greater collaboration to tackle health, social, economic, and political challenges has been sorely lacking. The Dialogue is pleased to present the 2022 Linowitz report “The Case for Renewed Cooperation in a Troubled Hemisphere,” which provides an analysis of the interrelated challenges facing the Western Hemisphere today and policy proposals to enhance collaboration across the hemisphere, all with an eye towards the Ninth Summit of the Americas.
Tamara Taraciuk Broner, directora del Programa Peter D. Bell sobre Estado de Derecho del Diálogo Interamericano, conversó con la Radio Pichincha en Ecuador sobre el contexto en el cual se dieron las elecciones el 20 de agosto, incluyendo los incidentes de violencia política y el agravamiento de la situación de inseguridad en el país.
Testimony by Program Director Tamara Taraciuk Broner to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, on Organized Crime, Gangs, and Human Rights in Latin America.
Tamara Taraciuk Broner, director of the Peter D. Bell Rule of Law Program at the Inter-American Dialogue, spoke with CGTN America regarding Ecuador’s security crisis in the wake of recent events.
On June 4, 2024, the Inter-American Dialogue’s Rule of Law Program and Ágora published a policy brief, “Uruguay: Insecurity and Organized Crime.” This is the first policy brief in a series on security policies and the rule of law in the region launched by the Dialogue’s Rule of Law Program.
Ines Fynn, Juan Pablo Luna
Reports ˙
˙ Download the Policy Brief (in Spanish)
On July 12, 2024, the Inter-American Dialogue’s Rule of Law Program and Cristosal published a policy brief asserting that President Bernardo Arévalo’s government can demonstrate the feasibility of implementing effective and democratic measures to address insecurity in Guatemala.