El Centro

Drug Traffickers Threaten Central America's Democratic Gains by Elliott Abrams, Washington Post.

Three decades ago, President Ronald Reagan convened a group of Republican and Democratic leaders — known as the Kissinger commission — and charged it to make recommendations on how the United States could best help the countries of Central America thwart Soviet- and Cuban-supported guerrilla movements by promoting democracy and economic development. Reagan faced fierce opposition from some quarters in Washington, but his policies — and the sacrifices of many U.S. friends in the region — helped bring about three decades of relative peace and economic growth in Central America.

Unfortunately, those gains are at risk. The region’s challenges today are less about ideology than about criminality and corruption that threaten to undermine democratic institutions, the rule of law and public security…

Read on.

Covert Action in Colombia by Dana Priest, Washington Post.

The 50-year-old Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), once considered the best-funded insurgency in the world, is at its smallest and most vulnerable state in decades, due in part to a CIA covert action program that has helped Colombian forces kill at least two dozen rebel leaders, according to interviews with more than 30 former and current U.S. and Colombian officials.

The secret assistance, which also includes substantial eavesdropping help from the National Security Agency, is funded through a multibillion-dollar black budget. It is not a part of the public $9 billion package of mostly U.S. military aid called Plan Colombia, which began in 2000…

Read on.

In Honduras, Rival Gangs Keep a Death Grip on San Pedro Sula by Tracy Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times.

The Honduras neighborhood of Chamelecon is a network of gang turfs where residents' survival depends on playing by gang rules…

Each neighborhood has a code of survival. People from one do not venture into the other. The distance can be a matter of a few blocks. This means workers can't get to their jobs and families have had to stop sending their kids to certain schools. Threatened households have packed up and left, leaving behind full closets, children's toys — and lifeless streets.

The gangs charge what residents call a war tax, extorted from homes and businesses, down to the smallest fruit vendor. You don't pay, you get out. And if you don't go, you get killed…

Read on.

Helicopter Gunships Used in Mexico Resort Battle - AP via ABC

Two government helicopter gunships opened fire on 10 vehicles fleeing a luxury beach condo complex during this week's gun battle at the Gulf of California resort of Puerto Penasco, Mexican authorities said.

New details emerged about the raging gun battle that ensued after federal forces tried to capture a reputed top lieutenant of the Sinaloa drug cartel who was staying at a beachfront villa…

Read on.

Univision Video: In Sinaloa, A Cemetery Dominated by Narcos:

Mexico’s Petit Révolution: Justice and Security Implications of Approving a Fully New Code of Judicial Procedures by Viridiana Rios, Wilson Center.

Mexico’s Federal Congress is about to vote on a bill that represents the most profound change to Mexico’s judicial procedures since its revolution. This is a silent but quite consequential change, happening right at our border, which will powerfully affect how justice is secured and executed.The bill proposes the creation of a Single Code of Penal Procedures, a single law that will regulate all judicial procedures in Mexico. While this was unthinkable just a couple of years ago, the billhas ignited a profound debate about the future viability of Mexico’s federalism, a country that, as of today, allows each of its 32 states to have their own independent code. Indeed, Mexico’s federal logic, according to which each state-level congress dictates the rules of their justice system, is facing a revolution…

Read on.

Think Again: Mexican Drug Cartels by Evelyn Krache Morris, Foreign Policy.

… The official U.S. neglect of the Mexican cartels is partly a function of the complex challenges they present. Violence connected with DTOs is no longer limited to northern Mexico but now reaches throughout the country. This expansion not only poses a foreign policy problem for Washington, but it also exacerbates several of the most intractable domestic issues facing the United States, including immigration reform and gun control…

Read on.