Colombia: Petrol fuels instability on the border
Brigadier General Gustavo Moreno is sitting behind a wide desk in his air-conditioned office. It overlooks the parade ground of the police compound which...
Guatemala: An end to the drugs war?
President Pérez Molina is a leading opponent of the indiscriminate use of force to thwart the illegal drugs trade. Now he is pressing for the UN to adopt a complete change of strategy.
HONDURAS: THE PRISON TIME BOMB
One year on from a disastrous fire that killed 350 inmates at a prison in Comayagua, LAB's Nick Caistor finds that the situation in Honduras' jails is as bad as ever.
The Maras – an escalating problem in El Salvador
San Salvador: Life under the Maras. Maras, or street gangs, have becoming the scourge of El Salvador, particularly in the capital. They sell drugs, extort money and rape girls, often in extremely cruel ways.
Guatemala and the Face of the New Sustainable Narco-State
As Guatemala fails to control the violence within it's borders Edward Fischer discusses the structure of the modern Narco-State.
Rio: Temer plays with fire
Since 16 February an army general has been in charge of policing and security in the state of Rio de Janeiro. This is the...
Peru: environmental defenders still dying
Murders of indigenous leaders in Peru continue, despite government promises to improve protections. Those who seek to defend their land and protect the local environment are targeted by illegal loggers, miners and drug traffickers.
Colombia: ¿La paz es ahora?
¿La paz es ahora? Questions of peace and violence in Colombia
An ambitious conference at Newcastle University in September 2017 examined the nature of violence...
Colombia: does peace still have a chance?
This article was written by Francisco Gutiérrez Sanín, Professor at the Nacional University in Bogotá Colombia, and a partner on the Drugs & (dis)order...
Colombia´s anti-drugs policies: evidence versus ideology
In Colombia, a new voluntary crop substitution programme was designed with participation of many of the small-scale coca producers themselves. This was a key...