[Ed. Note: This week, retired Venezuelan Gen. Hugo Carvajal was detained in Aruba at the request of U.S. authorities. Carvajal was the former head of Venezuelan military intelligence (DGIM) and a close confidante of the late Hugo Chávez. In 2008, he was designated by U.S Treasury as a "drug kingpin" for his ties to the Colombian narco-terrorist FARC. That year also, the highly respected Colombian magazine Semana published an exposé of Carvajal that reported on his...

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador - Every day, as she travels to the food stall she operates, Mirna Isabel Villalta crosses an invisible but dangerous boundary. Her modest home is in a part of San Salvador controlled by the Mara Salvatrucha, a gang so ruthless and sprawling that the Obama administration has labeled it an international criminal organization. Her food stall is in the city center in an area controlled by Barrio 18, a gang that despises the Mara Salvatrucha. She knows she's breaking an...

Competition between criminal groups over drug routes has made the frontier between Guatemala and Honduras one of the most violent areas in Central America, with murder rates among the highest in the world. In the absence of effective law enforcement, traffickers have become de facto authorities in some sectors. Crisis Group’s latest report, , examines the regional dynamics that have allowed criminal gangs to thrive and outlines the main steps necessary to prevent further violence as well...

Last week, Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro took to the opinion pages of The New York Times to counter the bad press his government has received for its crackdown on widespread protests over the past two months. He the international media of having “distorted the reality” of Venezuela by portraying the protests as peaceful and the country’s democracy as “deficient.” Yet the steps he’s taken to respond to the protests at home have shown that the...

The crisis in Venezuela has escalated beyond the capacity of domestic actors to find a space for dialogue. Each party rejects the legitimacy of its rival. Human rights violations - and protester violence - are leaving deep wounds in Venezuelan society that will take years to heal. Not long ago, such an impasse would have prompted the immediate response of the international community and particularly of regional organisations such as the Organization of American States (OAS). But Latin America...

Bogotá/Brussels, 26 February 2014: Bringing the National Liberation Army (ELN) into the current round of negotiations is vital for durable peace. In its latest report, , the International Crisis Group examines the opportunities for talks between Bogotá and the National Liberation Army (ELN). As the Havana-based peace talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Colombia’s largest guerrilla group, look increasingly promising, pressure is growing to open a...

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: “Let’s talk about Venezuela right now. You know that the President of Venezuela, he had some sharp words for you. He called you, and I’m translating from the Spanish, ‘the craziest of the crazies,’ because of your views on what’s going on in Venezuela right now. What should the U.S. be doing in Venezuela?” Senator Marco Rubio: “First of all, let me just say about this individual, Mr. Maduro, he’s someone who...

Political confrontation in Venezuela has turned violent in the past few days with the killing of six demonstrators, the injury of many more and a clampdown on civil liberties. This threatens to further erode stability and human rights in an already polarised nation facing acute economic crisis and where the homicide rate is one of the highest on earth. The government and the opposition must promptly find a way to foster a basic political dialogue. Ultimately, this dialogue - on the...

The students’ revolt that began last week in Venezuela will continue with a big demonstration on February 18th led by Leopoldo Lopez, the leader of the “Popular Will” Party. Mr. Lopez leads the demonstrations at a big risk to himself as he is now under an order of arrest by the Venezuelan government. The protests are not just about inflation, scarcity and poverty that now characterize the Venezuelan economy but also about repression and lack of freedom. In addition, it is...

Douglas Farah, security analyst for the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), testified before the House Subcommittee on Terrorism this past Tuesday. The hearing highlighted the Colombian FARC's ties to other terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and international drug cartels, as well as the FARC's involvement in political activities in the Latin American region. After replying to questions on matters of regional security and the Colombian FARC's links to...