Security has become the defining issue in Latin American politics. In Colombia, Abelardo de la Espriella won the presidency on a hardline security platform and a promise to scrap Petro’s total peace plan. In Ecuador, Daniel Noboa won re-election on the back of a military crackdown against criminal gangs. And in Washington, the Trump administration launched the Shield of the Americas: A coalition of like-minded governments committed to a military-led approach to fighting organized crime. Meanwhile, criminal groups are doing what they always do: reorganizing, diversifying, and finding new markets to tap into, from the United States and Europe to an increasingly lucrative market in Asia and within Latin America itself. Today on the podcast, our annual big picture look at how organized crime is evolving across the region: How well is the militarized approach working? And what can we expect from this new generation of right-wing leaders? Our guest is Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime.
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Guest:
Jeremy McDermott is co-founder and co-director of InSight Crime.
Host:
Brian Winter is editor-in-chief of Americas Quarterly
If you would like to know more:
To Fight Organized Crime, Latin America Needs a Regional Security Force by Ana Janaina Nelson and Benjamin N. Gedan
Latin American Organized Crime’s Real Target: Local Government by Will Freeman
Costa Rica’s ‘Safe Haven’ Faces a Reckoning by Rafael Ledezma and Antonio Monte
Environmental Crime Is a Critical Threat to the Americas by Andrea Crosta
The Pending Task of Solving Disappearances in Mexico by Mark Viales
AQ Podcast: How Crime Is Affecting Latin American Politics
Criminal infiltration of formal economies and politics is shaping elections in Latin America.
