Weekly InSight
May 26, 2023 ([link removed])

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This week, InSight Crime interviews ([link removed]) Piotr Chomczyński, a Polish academic who has studied the recruitment of young people by Mexican criminal organizations. Chomczyński explains how early exposure to organized crime by young people, especially in marginalized areas, made it seem like a natural step for them to join criminal groups later in life.

We also review the testimony ([link removed]) given by former AUC ([link removed]) paramilitary commander Salvatore Mancuso to Colombia’s transitional justice system, during which he claimed that paramilitary forces provided support to former Colombian presidents. We examine the lack of progress between Colombia’s government and the ELN ([link removed]) following six months ([link removed]) of peace talks. We also explain how an alliance between Mexico’s CJNG ([link removed]) and Familia Michoacana ([link removed]) led to an increase in t
([link removed]) he use of drone attacks ([link removed]) that displaced communities in the state of Guerrero, and analyze how Guatemalan military members assisted ([link removed]) CJNG in trafficking cocaine.


** Featured
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** How Common Experiences Help Mexican Gangs Find New Recruits ([link removed])
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Criminal groups in Mexico and across Latin America have become adept at grooming vulnerable young men as recruits. A new study has sought to understand how exposure to criminality from an early age conditions vulnerable people to view joining a criminal group as the next logical step in their lives.

InSight Crime spoke with Piotr Chomczyński, an associate professor at the University of Lodz in Poland and one of the co-authors of this study ([link removed]) , to understand how the everyday experiences of these men prepared them for a life of crime, as opposed to their individual motivations. Some answers were obtained from one of Chomczyński's "informers" in the community, who asked for anonymity…

Read the interview here > ([link removed])


** NewsAnalysis
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All News ([link removed]) >
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** Mexico Drone Attacks Spike After CJNG, Familia Michoacana Alliance ([link removed])
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An increase in drone strikes in parts of Mexico’s southwestern state of Guerrero has seen hundreds of residents driven from...

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** Paramilitary Commander Salvatore Mancuso Reveals AUC’s Connections in Colombia ([link removed])
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In a recent testimony before the Colombian transitional justice system, one of the most important...

Guatemala Ex-Colonel Says Military Helped CJNG Run Drugs ([link removed])
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Colombia's Talks With ELN Stumbling, Again ([link removed])


** Impact
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What We Do ([link removed])


** Venezuela Coverage Receives Great Reception
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Several of InSight Crime’s most recent articles about Venezuela have been well received by regional media.

Our article on Venezuela’s colectivos expanding beyond their political role to control access to essential services for thousands of people was republished in multiple local newspapers, including La Patilla ([link removed]) and El Tequeño ([link removed]) . Meanwhile, our article about how the nationalization of the country’s scrap metal industry became a state-sponsored free-for-all was republished in El Nacional ([link removed]) and Venezuela USA ([link removed]) .
See all our Venezuela coverage > ([link removed])

What’s more, our coverage of the ELN’s control of the cattle smuggling industry between Colombia and Venezuela has also been cited several times, including in Infobae ([link removed]) and Voz de América ([link removed]) .

Read the cited article > ([link removed])


** Criminal Actors
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Profiles of some of the notable criminal personalities and groups that have marked this week.

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** Gaitanistas ([link removed])
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The Gaitanistas, also known as the Gulf Clan, Urabeños, and Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces of Colombia...
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** Familia Michoacana ([link removed])
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At the height of its power, the Familia Michoacana’s brutal tactics...


** Media Mentions
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About Us ([link removed])
MAY 18, 2023
THE NEW HUMANITARIAN ([link removed])

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"According to Insight Crime, the country [Honduras] had the highest homicide rate last year in Central America and the second highest in all of Latin America -- second only to Venezuela."
Read InSight Crime's 2022 Homicide Round-Up > ([link removed])


** Our Trending Topics
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