Security and Crime Archives - Americas Quarterly

A march in Mexico City on Aug. 30 2026 during the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances

Mexico’s Homicides Are Falling, but a Broader Violence Crisis Persists

Sheinbaum’s security strategy has lowered murder rates but should address rampant extortion and disappearances and seek stronger federal-state cooperation.

Costa Rica's Police from the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) conduct an operation in a house to arrest four suspects in the assasination of the former Nicaraguan military Roberto Samcam, in San Jose, on September 12, 2025. Costa Rican police have arrested four suspects in the assassination on its soil of a fierce critic of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega in June, an official said Friday. Retired Nicaraguan army major Roberto Samcam, 66, was gunned down at his apartment building in San Jose on June 19. (Photo by Ezequiel BECERRA / AFP) (Photo by EZEQUIEL BECERRA/AFP via Getty Images)

Costa Rica’s ‘Safe Haven’ Faces a Reckoning

The country is experiencing an unprecedented security crisis ahead of the February 2026 election.

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