In our September 21 Facebook Live Session, Co-director Steven Dudley and Senior Editor Mike LaSusa discussed some of our viewers’ questions concerning the most pressing crime and corruption issues in Latin America.
Dudley first gave a quick overview of the different stages of Guatemala’s current political crisis, from the debut of the United Nations-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (Comisión Internacional contra la Impunidad en Guatemala – CICIG) to the latest developments this week amid ongoing popular protests.
The discussion then turned to Brazil, where President Michel Temer faces a fresh set of corruption charges. LaSusa and Dudley debated the implications of the decision by Brazil’s Attorney General’s Office to go not only after Temer but many of the country’s political elite by depicting political parties as mafias.
Dudley also answered a viewer’s question concerning the barriers to implementing progressive security policies in the Northern Triangle. InSight Crime’s co-director noted that progressive measures demand significant spending and time to show results, while opening the decision-maker to criticism of being “soft” on crime from political opponents. Hard-line policies, on the other hand, are the political path of least resistance.
Watch the Facebook Live broadcast for the full conversation: