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Latin American Program in the News: El crimen organizado se sustenta en las estructuras del Estado y es un negocio en expansión

Juan Carlos Garzón

Latin American Program Global Fellow Juan Carlos Garzón’s article about organized crime in South America is cited in this article. The article is in Spanish.

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El crimen organizado ha ganado cada vez más terreno en América Latina. Tejiendo una red de poder entre mercados ilegales, la colaboración del Estado y una violencia masiva, la mafia es hoy considerada un negocio en expansión. La conclusión es del centro de investigación independiente internacional Woodrow Wilson Center, que divulgó un documento en el que da cuenta del funcionamiento de las facciones delictivas existentes en el continente.

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En la publicación se señala que los grupos favorecerían la formación de mercados locales ilegales, factor común en América Latina, que presentan una serie de ventajas a esas facciones: permiten un flujo de caja constante de fácil acceso y la contratación de mano de obra local (que provee a esas organizaciones de base social), son medios efectivos para el lavado de dinero y su interacción con la informalidad, potencia la capacidad de infiltración en la economía legal.

This article discusses a publication, "La rebelión de las redes criminales: el crimen organizado en América Latina y las fuerzas que lo modifican," authored by Latin American Program Global Fellow Juan Carlos Garzón. The publication introduces the concept of the "rebellion" of criminal networks to explain the current dynamic of and context within which organized crime operates. It also outlines the changes that have fostered the emmergence of local markets for illegal drugs, and concludes with ten recommendatinos for addressing this challenge. 

This article is in Spanish. To read the article, click here.

To read the publication in English, click here.

To read the publication in Spanish, click here.

About the Author

Juan Carlos Garzón

Juan Carlos Garzón

Former Visiting Scholar;
Security and Conflict Resolution Expert; Former Consultant, United Nations Development Program and Organization of American States
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Latin America Program

The Wilson Center’s prestigious Latin America Program provides non-partisan expertise to a broad community of decision makers in the United States and Latin America on critical policy issues facing the Hemisphere. The Program provides insightful and actionable research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America. To bridge the gap between scholarship and policy action, it fosters new inquiry, sponsors high-level public and private meetings among multiple stakeholders, and explores policy options to improve outcomes for citizens throughout the Americas. Drawing on the Wilson Center’s strength as the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum, the Program serves as a trusted source of analysis and a vital point of contact between the worlds of scholarship and action.  Read more