Current Events

Mexico Crime Profile: Criminal Groups, Security Forces, Prisons, and the Judicial System

Mexico is home to some of the hemisphere’s largest, most sophisticated, and most violent organized criminal groups. These organizations have drawn from Mexico’s long history of smuggling and its proximity to the United States, the world’s largest economy, to grow into a regional threat. Their networks stretch from Argentina to Canada and even into Europe. They … Read more

How can Salvadorans vote in elections? The next elections are in 2024

Salvadorans within the country can vote in the 2024 elections at the designated polling place in the municipality they reside. Salvadorans living abroad can vote remotely via the Internet from January 6 to February 4 and at selected locations, in … Read more

Guatemala Crime Profile: Analyzing Criminal Groups, Security Forces, the Judicial System, and Prisons

Guatemala’s criminal organizations are among the most sophisticated in Central America. Some of them have been in operation for decades. They include former members of the military, intelligence agencies, active members of the police, public officials, and drug traffickers. In the political sphere, state-embedded corruption networks continue to tighten their grip on the political and … Read more

Chile’s Crime Profile: An In-Depth Look at Criminal Networks, Security Forces, Prisons, and the Justice System

Despite its proximity to cocaine-producing Andean countries, Chile has not suffered the negative effects of organized crime to the same extent as other nations in the region. In fact, it is one of the safest nations in Latin America. Since emerging from the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet in 1990, Chile has enacted a series of key reforms that have helped build efficient security forces and an … Read more

Nicaragua Crime Profile: Examining Criminal Groups, Security Forces, the Judicial System, and Prisons

Nicaragua has long been one of the least violent countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Although some local gangs and at least one transnational criminal organization have a foothold there, so far the country has not experienced the high homicide rates common in its Central American neighbors. Nevertheless, traffickers have taken advantage of Nicaragua’s … Read more

El Salvador Makes the List of New York Times “52 Places to Go In 2024”

Tourism to El Salvador is improving, which is good news for the Smallest country in Central America. This week, the New York Times newspaper released its list of the 52 Places to Go in 2024, including El Salvador. El Salvador … Read more

Remote Electronic Voting Begins for Salvadorans Residing Abroad

This Saturday, January 6, at 00:00, the Salvadoran Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) enabled electronic voting for Presidential and legislative elections. 741,094 Salvadorans who have a Unique Identity Document (DUI) with an address abroad can begin casting their votes. The electoral … Read more