Crackdown on Illegal Mining Won’t End Ecuador’s Gold Rush
Thousands of police and military have swept through the north Ecuador district of Buenos Aires in an attempt to control the illegal mining boom that has ravaged the…

The Criminal Ties of Maduro’s New Military Chiefs in Venezuela
President Nicolás Maduro has announced changes to Venezuela’s highest military positions, in a series of appointments that reward longstanding loyalty but also promote figures with records of…

Drug Flights Coming Through Guatemala Continue to Soar
Some two dozen planes suspected of carrying drugs have been discovered in Guatemala this year, evidence that traffickers are continuing to exploit the country’s central location and its inadequate…

Mexico Criminal Groups Increase Child Recruitment Tactics
Crime organizations in Mexico are increasingly recruiting children and adolescents to use as “disposable labor”, taking advantage of the lack of effective government programs to protect the most vulnerable.
The post…

El Chapo Has Been Jailed for Life, But Is Mexico Better Off?
A US federal court has sentenced former Sinaloa Cartel capo Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera to life in prison, but in the drug lord’s absence,…

El Salvador to Omit Key Data From Official Homicide Tally
The government of El Salvador says that homicide data will only include “social violence” and not instances involving confrontations with security forces, a move that makes it…