Security & Strategic Review - March 2020

The intersection of politics and crime at local level is nothing new in Brazil, but looks set to come under increased scrutiny as the country prepares to elect mayors and municipal councillors in October.... Read More

The increasing polarisation of Bolivian politics in recent months has shone a light on deeper-lying social divisions in the country, as critics of Jeanine Áñez’s interim government have argued that there is a broadly racialised divide between supporters of Áñez, and of the deposed Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS).... Read More

A landmark case heard by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) in January and February has sought a verdict on the legal responsibility of the Ecuadorean state to protect its citizens from sexual violence and abuse.... Read More

Peru’s legislative elections on 27 January saw the 130-seat congress divided between nine different parties, with none taking more than 25 seats.... Read More

The murder of a Brazilian journalist in the Paraguayan border city of Pedro Juan Caballero, Amambay department, has brought to light additional dimensions to the challenges of the authorities’ fight against organised crime in an area where the lack of a hard border makes it a location of choice for the smuggling of contraband and illegal goods from Paraguay to Brazil.... Read More

Chile continues to suffer from its worst drought on record, which has affected the country’s central regions for the past decade.... Read More

Argentina’s Peronist President Alberto Fernández had promised a radical shift from the public security policy espoused under his predecessor Mauricio Macri (2015-2019).... Read More

Rubén ‘El Menchito’ Oseguera González has become the latest prominent drug trafficker to be extradited by Mexico to the US.... Read More

In early February Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov visited Mexico as part of a regional tour that also took in Cuba and Venezuela.... Read More

The economically prosperous central state of Guanajuato has become Mexico’s most violent.... Read More

Since taking office on 14 January for a four-year term, Guatemala’s new President Alejandro Giammattei has sought to dispel concerns about the direction of anti-corruption efforts.... Read More

A new staff paper published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) attempts to measure both the direct and indirect costs of crime using Central America’s ‘Northern Triangle’ (El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras) as case studies.... Read More

“A negative step in the fight against corruption and impunity”.... Read More

At the 11th Caribbean Conference on Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM) which took place in December 2019, the 18 participating states met to outline the objectives of CDM11 and reaffirm their commitment to previous agreements.... Read More