Lessons of Iraq Help U.S. Fight a Drug War in Honduras by Thom Shanker, New York Times.
The United States military has brought lessons from the past decade of conflict to the drug war being fought in the wilderness of Miskito Indian country, constructing this remote base camp with little public notice but with the support of the Honduran government.
Drug Trafficking, Violence, and Instability by Dr. Phil Williams and Dr. Vanda Felbab-Brown, U.S. Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute.
Synopsis:
Although challenges posed by various kinds of violent armed groups initially appear highly diverse and unrelated to one another, in fact they all reflect the increasing connections between security and governance and, in particular, the relationship between poor governance and violent armed groups. In many cases, these groups are overtly challenging the state; in others they are cooperating and colluding with state structures while subtly undermining them; in yet others, the state is a passive bystander while violent armed groups are fighting one another. The mix is different, the combinations vary, and the perpetrators of violence have different motives, methods, and targets. In spite of their divergent forms, violent nonstate actors (VNSAs) share certain qualities and characteristics. These violent armed groups represent a common challenge to national and international security, a challenge that is far greater than the sum of the individual groups, and that is likely to grow rather than diminish over the next several decades. This monograph focuses on the complex relationship between human security, crime, illicit economies, and law enforcement. It also seeks to disentangle the linkages between insurgency on the one hand and drug trafficking and organized crime on the other, suggesting that criminal activities help sustain an insurgency, but also carry certain risks for the insurgency.
Must we define drug traffickers in Mexico as terrorists and do more to prevent their disastrous effects?
Santa Muerte - The Saint of Death - Has Following Among Criminals (Video)
VIDEO STORY BY BETH PARKER/myfoxdc
WASHINGTON - There are 10,000 saints in the Catholic Church. But there is one that’s not even real that many people are praying to.
They say she delivers on prayers and does so quickly. She is even being worshiped by some of Mexico's most notorious criminals.
A Bill: To direct the Secretary of State to designate as foreign terrorist organizations certain Mexican drug cartels and submit a report on the activities the Department of State is taking to assist Mexico with drug cartel violence, and for other purposes.
H.R. 4303: Export-Import Bank Reauthorization Act of 2012.
112th Congress, 2011–2012. Text as of Mar 29, 2012 (Introduced).
Excerpt follows:
SEC. 2. DESIGNATION.
The Secretary of State shall designate under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189) as a foreign terrorist organization the following:
(1) The Arellano Felix Organization.
(2) The Los Zetas Cartel.
(3) The Juarez Cartel.
(4) The Beltran Leyva Organization.
(5) La Familia Michoacana.
(6) The Sinaloa Cartel.
(7) The Gulf Cartel/New Federation.
For full text: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr4303/text
Mexican criminal networks are far more decentralized and thus more resiliant than the Colombian cartels of the 1980s.
In advance of a hemispheric summit in Colombia this weekend the Washington Post reports that Latin American countries are pursuing alternatives to the US drug war strategy.
When President Obama arrives in Colombia... he will hear Latin American leaders say that the US-orchestrated war on drugs, which criminalizes drug use and employs military tactics to fight gangs, is failing and that broad changes need to be considered...
A look at the gray agents - the public servants, political actors, or security agents - that promote criminal interests.
El Centro Fellows George Grayson and Samuel Logan have published the new work The Executioner's Men: Los Zetas, Rogue Soldiers, Criminal Entrepreneurs, and the Shadow State They Created
A new generation of ruthless pragmatists carves a parallel state across Mexico and Central America. Most powerful among them is Los Zetas, ruled over by Heriberto Lazcano, known as The Executioner. Lazcano and his men have forced a tectonic shift among drug trafficking organizations in the Americas, forever altering how criminal business is conducted in the Western Hemisphere. This narrative brings an unprecedented level of detail in describing how Los Zetas became Mexico’s most diabolical criminal organization.
From the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI)
The military was once a central pillar of authoritarian dictatorships
in Latin America. Now, democratic governments are relying on them to
restore law and order, bypassing failing police forces. This is a
high-risk strategy, policymakers need to ensure that civilian control
of militaries remain paramount.
Read more at: http://www.rusi.org/analysis/
