How US Policy Foments Organized Crime on US-Mexico Border
In 2019, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). What would become known as…
Citizen Prosperity: Wild Card Meets Status Quo
There are few better illustrations of the battle for control of the Guatemalan state than the candidacy of Carlos Pineda…
Cabal: Caciques and Compromises
Through a combination of luck, persistence, and dubious legal challenges lodged against other candidates, Edmond Mulet and his political party,…
Valor and the Ghost of the CIACS
Zury Ríos (Valor) is consistently near the top of the polls making her one of the frontrunners in a crowded…
Vamos: The Fight to Stay in the Game
The political bloc surrounding the administration of President Alejandro Giammattei (2020-present) is now the dominant power structure in Guatemala. In…
The Road to 2023: A Peek Into Guatemala’s Criminal Past
Today’s Guatemalan corrupt-criminal blocs have their origins in the country’s civil war (1960-1996). The military ruled the country during most…
Perpetuating Corruption: The System Undermining the 2023 Guatemala Elections
This is the first of a seven-chapter report that delineates the evolution of organized crime in Guatemala. The report emphasizes…
UNE’s One-Pronged Strategy
The National Unity of Hope (Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza – UNE) is one of Guatemala’s most enduring political parties…
Mexico’s Laws to Regulate Chemicals Work on Paper But Not in Practice
Since Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took office in 2018, his morning press conferences have been a way for…
Chemists and ‘Cooks’: How Fentanyl Kills
Juan Manuel Delgado Cárdenas was months away from completing his studies in pharmaceutical chemistry and biology at the Autonomous University…