In Central America’s Northern Triangle, organized crime has permeated national politics by corrupting local governments. This series presents the stories of three mayors in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, exploring the links between power, drug trafficking rings, gangs and corruption.
Electing Criminals: Municipal Power and Organized Crime in the Northern Triangle
EL SALVADOR
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2 NOV 2017
Chapter 1
Guatemala Mayor ‘Tres Kiebres’: The Art of Being ‘3 Times Broken’
ELITES AND CRIME
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11 OCT 2017
The atmosphere was light, almost jovial, as Ipala's Mayor Esduin Javier turned to the next item on the agenda. The issue was what the people at the municipality's monthly town…
Chapter 2
A Honduras Political Clan and Its Criminal Fiefdom
ELITES AND CRIME
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19 OCT 2017
It was around midnight that police in a rural area of the northern department of Olancho first heard the distinctive buzz of a low-flying aircraft. Night duty officers in three…
Chapter 3
Symbiosis: Gangs and Municipal Power in Apopa, El Salvador
BARRIO 18
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2 NOV 2017
Stories such as that of the former mayor of the El Salvador municipality of Apopa, José Elías Hernández, or "Old Timer" as the gangs knew him, are increasingly…
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COCAINE
/
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EL SALVADOR
/
21 NOV 2013
The El Salvador Security and Justice Minister has said the country's gangs are once again at war as rising murder…
BARRIO 18
/
26 FEB 2016
A Wall Street Journal report documents how youths in El Salvador are choosing to become firefighters in order to avoid…
About InSight Crime
THE ORGANIZATION
Strategic Communications Manager Job Description
12 FEB 2021
InSight Crime is looking for a full-time strategic communications manager. This person needs to be able to work in a fast-paced world of daily news, high-profile investigations, national and international…
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THE ORGANIZATION
InSight Crime Events – Border Crime: The Northern Triangle and Tri-Border Area
ARGENTINA
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25 JAN 2021
Through several rounds of extensive field investigations, our researchers have analyzed and mapped out the main illicit economies and criminal groups present in 39 border departments spread across the six countries of study – the Northern Triangle trio of Guatemala, Honduras, and El…
BRIEF
InSight Crime’s ‘Memo Fantasma’ Investigation Wins Simón Bolívar National Journalism Prize
COLOMBIA
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20 NOV 2020
The staff at InSight Crime was awarded the prestigious Simón Bolívar national journalism prize in Colombia for its two-year investigation into the drug trafficker known as “Memo Fantasma,” which was…
ANALYSIS
InSight Crime – From Uncovering Organized Crime to Finding What Works
COLOMBIA
/
12 NOV 2020
This project began 10 years ago as an effort to address a problem: the lack of daily coverage, investigative stories and analysis of organized crime in the Americas. …
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