This week, InSight Crime analyzes the results of Guatemala's presidential elections and the implications of the victory of Bernardo Arévalo and his party, Movimiento Semilla, for the fight against the country's corrupt political elites. It remains to be seen whether the efforts of those elites, aided by the Attorney General's Office, can impede Arévalo’s path to the presidency.
In Venezuela, we assess how food smuggled from Colombia threatens to bring down the country's food and beverage industry, and question the efforts of the government in stopping illegal mining in the Yapacana National Park, in the state of Amazonas where the ELN and the ex-FARC Acacio Medina Front enjoy beneficial connections with political figures.
In Ecuador, we explore the security policies proposed by Luisa González of Movimiento Revolución Ciudadana and Daniel Noboa of Acción Democrática Nacional (ADN), the two candidates facing each other in the second round of the presidential elections, and in Colombia we chronicle the story Juan Carlos Ramírez Abadia, alias “Chupeta,” whose disfigured face is as much a part of his infamy as his drug trafficking exploits.
Finally, we assess the evolution of Colombia’s criminal landscape one year after President Gustavo Petro's Total Peace announcement.
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An outsider candidate campaigning on an anti-corruption platform secured a landslide victory in Guatemala’s presidential election on Sunday, setting up a possible showdown between the president-elect and corrupt, political elites still clinging to power.
Centrist anti-corruption campaigner Bernardo Arévalo secured 58% of votes in the August 20 presidential run-off, comfortably defeating establishment candidate Sandra Torres (37%), who suffered her third consecutive defeat in the second round of elections.
Read the article >
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Venezuela’s agriculture and drinks industries may be on the brink of collapse, business leaders warn, as domestic producers face...
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Ecuador is headed to the second round of presidential elections with two candidates who support social measures as their primary strategy for addressing the wave of violence...
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This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador during the first round of the presidential elections.
Read our analysis "4 Reasons Why Ecuador Is in a Security Crisis" >
In addition, Chris Dalby, editor of InSight Crime, wrote an opinion piece for Mexican newspaper El Universal, where he analyzed Ecuador’s security crisis, the increase in homicides in the country, the presence of international criminal organizations in Ecuador and the role of local gangs.
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This Week's Criminal Profile: Acacio Medina Front - Ex-FARC Mafia
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InSight Crime explored the Acacio Medina Front's control over illegal mining in the southern Venezuelan state of Amazonas. Their ties to political and military forces allow them to profit from multiple economic activities in the state while avoiding the reprisals of the military.
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"Mines are controlled by armed groups, including guerrilla groups and mining gangs known as sindicatos. Investigations by InSight Crime indicate many are linked to organized crime and backed by elements of the Venezuelan state, who take a cut of the profits."
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