Ecuador’s Tense Peace Won’t Last
President Daniel Noboa’s tough stance on crime managed to reduce rates of violence and instability. But militarization is not enough ...
Policing and Disinformation Gone Awry in Ecuador
Protection rackets and political influencers feed an insecurity crisis and promote racist narratives ahead of the country’s October 15 presidential ...
No One is Safe in Bukele’s Gang War
With tens of thousands jailed and scores of reports of human rights abuses, Nayib Bukele’s project slides ever closer to ...
The Political Anatomy of Haiti’s Armed Gangs
In Port-au-Prince, botched NGO and military inventions have fragmented urban space, triggering an explosive proliferation of violent armed groups ...
Beyond the Stigma: Geography of an Identity
This biographical account of Fredi, an orphaned Salvadoran refugee turned marero, or gang member, traces a translocal migrant’s itinerary through ...
In Tegucigalpa, the Iron Fist Fails
With the rise of zero tolerance, or mano dura (“iron fist”), policing in Honduras, the capital city has experienced a ...
Haiti: In Bondage to History?
The acrid smell hanging over the once-grand hillside neighborhood of Bel-Aire, near Haiti’s bleached white National Palace, was by then ...
Jamaica: Negotiating Law and Order with the Dons
“It may not be right,” the off-duty police officer said, “but it does make my job easier.” We were sitting ...
