El Centro

Small Wars Journal is pleased to announce the release of Mexican Drug Violence: Hybrid Warfare, Predatory Capitalism and the Logic of Cruelty. This new Small Wars Journal–El Centro book by Dr. Teun A. Voeten examines the violence in Mexico’s drug war.

In COVID-19, Gangs, and Conflict, Editors John P. Sullivan and Robert J. Bunker bring together a curated collection of both new and previously published material to explore the trends and potentials of the global pandemic emergency. Topics include an exploration of proto-statemaking by criminal groups, the interaction of pandemics and conflict, as well as a comparison of gangs, criminal cartels, and mafias exploiting the crisis and exerting criminal governance in Brazil, El Salvador, Mexico, Colombia, and South Africa.

A new discussion paper from the Institute for Integrated Transitions (IFIT) looks at negotiating with criminal groups in Latin America and the Caribbean. Small Wars Journal – El Centro Fellow Vanda Felbab-Brown is principal author of the work.

The Atlantic Council has released a report on Venezuela's joint criminal enterprise and its threat to regional security. The report written by Small Wars Journal – El Centro Fellow Douglas Farah is entitled "THE MADURO REGIME’S ILLICIT ACTIVITIES: A Threat to Democracy in Venezuela and Security in Latin America."

Justice in Mexico Project at the University of San Diego has released the second edition of Organized Crime and Violence in Mexico. This 2020 Special Report was formerly known as Drug Violence in Mexico.

Small Wars Journal – El Centro Fellows Gary J. Hale and Nathan P. Jones just published a Policy Brief on Organized Crime and COVID-19 at the Center for the United States and Mexico at Rice University’s Baker institute for Public Policy.