Colombia Elites and Organized Crime

COLOMBIA / 9 AUG 2016

Colombia’s civil war has raged for generations and, as this series shows, has helped forge deep and lasting bonds between the country’s elites and organized crime.

About this Project

Elites and Organized Crime is a multiyear project financed by the International Development Research Centre that investigates the dynamics between organized crime and elites in four countries: Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Colombia.

Chapter 1

Colombia Elites and Organized Crime: Introduction

COLOMBIA / 9 AUG 2016

The power of Colombia's elites is founded upon one of the most unequal divisions of land in the world. As of the early 21st century, one percent of landowners own…

Chapter 2

Colombia Elites and Organized Crime: 'Jorge 40'

AUC / 9 AUG 2016

Rodrigo Tovar Pupo never imagined it would come to this: dressed in an orange jumpsuit in a Washington DC courtroom and standing in front of a United States federal judge,…

Chapter 3

Colombia Elites and Organized Crime: 'Don Berna'

AUC / 9 AUG 2016

By the end of 1993, Pablo Escobar was cornered. The cocaine king -- known as "El Patrón" -- was running out of money and options. His top assassins were either…

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