How Honduras' MACCIH Loses, Even When It Wins
A new report says that the OAS-backed international judicial mission in Honduras has survived, even succeeded at times, despite numerous efforts by its enemies and proponents alike.
Coca, Cocaine and Guerrillas: Capturing the 'Lost War'
Photographer Carlos Villalon has captured the cocaine trade, the most infamous value chain on the planet, from its tiny seeds to its bloodiest consequences.
How Ríos Montt Won the War in Guatemala
Former Guatemala dictator and legislator Efraín Ríos Montt is dead, but he left behind a blueprint for how to undermine democracy and create powerful, lasting criminal networks.
Mexico Arrests MS13 Leader Busting Up Latest Gang Trafficking Ring
Mexico authorities have arrested an MS13 leader in Tijuana, disrupting another attempt by the gang to create a small international drug trafficking pipeline into the United States.
Why Trump is Wrong to Blame Migration for MS13 Expansion, Violence
President Donald Trump used his first State of the Union Address to blame the expansion and violence of the MS13 gang in the US on the "deadly loopholes" in the…
#BlackWednesday: Guatemala Takes Another Step to Institutionalize Corruption
Guatemala's congress took another bold step towards institutionalizing corruption on September 13, by reforming a law to protect politicians and their party functionaries from prosecution and penalties in cases of…
Honduras Ex-President's Son Sentenced to 24 Years in US Prison
Following a case that shook up the Honduras elite, the son of the country's former president was sentenced on September 5 to 24 years in a United States penitentiary for…
Crisis in the Prisons: Five Guidelines When Reforming the Penal System
The high and growing rate of imprisonment in the region is not leading to lower rates of violence and crime. In other words, we know that prisons are not the…
With Bold Move Against CICIG, Guatemala President Calling Trump's Bluff
After declaring the head of a UN commission persona non grata in his country amid investigations into narco donations to his campaign, Guatemala's President Jimmy Morales may well have moved…
El Salvador Special Police Unit Committed Extrajudicial Executions: Report
A special forces unit in the El Salvador police committed at least three extrajudicial executions, sexually assaulted two teenagers and extorted money via Facebook, according to an investigation by the…
Weekly InSight: InSide Colombia's BACRIM
In our July 13 Facebook Live, Executive Director Jeremy McDermott spoke to InSight Crime investigator James Bargent about what are known as "bandas criminales" or BACRIM -- Colombia's "franchise" mafias…
Homicides in Guatemala: Introduction, Methodology, and Major Findings
When violence surged in early 2015 in Guatemala, then-President Otto Pérez Molina knew how to handle the situation: Blame the street gangs. …
About InSight Crime
Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted
This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…
Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention
Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…
InSight Crime on El País Podcast
This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.
InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press
This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…
Escaping Barrio 18
Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…
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