In December 2012, newly installed President Enrique Pena Nieto promised to switch the focus of Mexico's drug wars from tackling the gang leaders to reducing the crime and violence that affect the lives of Mexicans. What is the scale of the violence? Official figures have been issued only sporadically. Most estimates put the number of people killed in drug-related violence since late 2006 at more than 60,000. Although there is no official breakdown of the numbers, the victims include...

Latin America and the Caribbean will celebrate at least . This is good news. It reflects a region that has by-and-large consolidated democracy, and where an entire generation has now grown up with the expectation that elections are the only legitimate way to select national leaders. However, this cycle of elections in Latin America is taking place at very different juncture than the ones that took place during the first decade of the 21st century, with important consequences for the...

Early this year the Argentine prosecutor, Alberto Nisman, disclosed a 500-page document of evidence of Iran’s terrorist networks in Latin America. It included a number of countries, among which were Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guyana, Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, and Uruguay. Iran’s activities in some of these countries are carried out with the direct or indirect support from the local government. For example, in my , I described the role played by the...

Paris, 15 October 2013 Dr. Juan Manuel Santos President of Colombia Mr. Eduardo Montealegre Lynett Prosecutor-General Maj. Gen. Rodolfo Palomino López National Police Director Dear President Santos, Dear Prosecutor-General Montealegre, Dear National Police Director Palomino, Reporters Without Borders, an international organization that defends freedom of information, urges you to intervene quickly to guarantee the safety of four journalists - Claudia López, Gonzalo...

A border metropolis with a population of almost 3 million, Tijuana, Mexico, is a perfect location for bi-national, international, legal and illegal activities. Because it is the largest border metropolis in Mexico, Tijuana is a popular place for the U.S. government to drop deported individuals. They seem to believe nobody will notice! Migrant groups intersect at the border - exiting and the other arriving. In recent years, the number of deportations has escalated to unprecedented figures....

THE EXPULSION of three U.S. diplomats by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro last week should be taken as one more symptom of the unravelling of the crackpot socialist regime inflicted on the country by the late Hugo Chávez. Mr. Maduro, a former bus driver picked by Mr. Chavez to replace him as he was dying of cancer, accused Charge D'affairs Kelly Keiderling and two colleagues of plotting to sabotage the crumbling national electric grid, histrionically shouting "Yankee, go...

Imagine if The Godfather character, Don Vito Corleone, died and left his hapless son, Fredo, in charge of the family business. That is essentially what happened in Venezuela when the caudillo Hugo Chávez died last year and Nicolás Maduro took power. As a result, the inevitable economic collapse and raging internal power struggle in that nation will have very grave consequences for the stability and security of the Americas. Observers snickered last week when Maduro, on his way...

Illegal activities such as drug trafficking, money laundering and smuggling are financing the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah in Latin America, according to experts and authorities. Increasingly strong evidence shows the Lebanon-based Shiite militia sponsored by Iran maintains ties with drug cartels and receives contributions from organized crime groups. “The money is used to maintain a military structure and finance social activities among Shiite populations in Lebanon and the...

In its latest report, , the International Crisis Group examines the trial against General and ex-President José Efraín Ríos Montt and related broader issues of the country's legal system. Never before has a former head of state been prosecuted for genocide in his own country's courts. The outcome of this historic case remains up in the air. Just ten days after the trial court convicted Ríos Montt in May, the Constitutional Court annulled the verdict. A new trial...

The Venezuelan military’s role as perpetrator of violence continues to make news. In a press release put out on August 8, human rights group Provea pointed out that from May to July Venezeula’s armed forces were involved in at least 8 violations of the “the right to life.” In 2012 164 people lost their lives at the hands of the military. Provea’s statistics are taken from Venezuela’s investigative police the CICPC. In a piece of news analysis called...