We publish a special illustrated investigation revealing human rights violations committed by Venezuelan security forces.
** Weekly InSight
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July 12, 2024
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This week, we published ([link removed]) a special illustrated investigation revealing human rights violations committed by Venezuelan security forces during the anti-gang Operation Trueno. The investigation combines drawings, text and audio to tell the stories of innocent people swept up in the operation purportedly targeting the Tren del Llano gang.
We also explain how dollarization has fueled ([link removed]) a rise in predatory lending in Venezuela; we uncover ([link removed]) the mafias behind Lain America’s sand trafficking industry; we explore ([link removed]) the innovative trend of Mexican cartels making their own precursor chemicals for methamphetamine production; and we analyze ([link removed]) the US designation of Tren de Aragua as a transnational criminal organization.
This and more below.
** Latest Investigation
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** When Terror Swept Through Guárico, Venezuela ([link removed])
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On the night of April 20, 2022, hundreds of heavily armed police and military officials descended on the municipality of Altagracia de Orituco in the central Venezuelan state of Guarico with orders to hunt down the Tren del Llano gang and its collaborators in what the government labeled Operación Trueno – Operation Thunder. But instead of directly confronting the gang, they rampaged through the region, terrorizing and traumatizing the population.
In the months that followed, lawyers from the human rights organization Defiende Venezuela traveled the region documenting evidence of the abuses committed by the security forces and taking witness testimonies from their victims. The following stories are based on those testimonies.
Read the investigation > ([link removed])
** News Analysis
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** Venezuela Businesses Increasingly Need Dollars. Loansharks Are Taking Advantage. ([link removed])
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In February 2024, two young men started hanging out in a store in the central Venezuelan state of Lara. The shop owner, Alejandra*, sold them … ([link removed])
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** The Mafias Behind Sand Trafficking in Latin America ([link removed])
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Just 50 kilometers from Rio de Janeiro’s world-famous beaches, one of the city’s most powerful gangsters found a fortune to be made in sand. Before he turned himself … ([link removed])
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** Mexico’s Meth Producers Are Making Their Own Precursors, Government Says ([link removed])
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Mexico’s navy warned of an increase in the use of less regulated chemicals for methamphetamine production this week, confirming … ([link removed])
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** US Labels Tren de Aragua a Transnational Criminal Threat ([link removed])
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The recent US designation of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua as a transnational criminal organization puts the group on par with major security threats in Latin America … ([link removed])
** Impact
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We are thrilled to announce InSight Crime will be honored with a special citation by the Maria Moors Cabot Prize jury for outstanding reporting on the Americas.
The prestigious recognition given by the Columbia Journalism School honors journalists and news organizations for career excellence and coverage of the Western Hemisphere that furthers inter-American understanding. We are honored to be among its many illustrious recipients.
Read the full announcement here > ([link removed])
** This Week's Criminal Profile: National Liberation Army (ELN)
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Peace negotiations between the Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (Ejército Nacional de Liberación - ELN) remain stalled, but the ELN breakaway group the Comuneros del Sur agreed this week with government negotiators on five points to de-escalate violence in the southwestern department of Nariño.
The fracturing of the negotiation process has revealed internal divisions within the ELN, Colombia’s last true guerrilla group, and suggests the government is shifting focus away from its promise of Total Peace and towards a form of Partial Peace ([link removed]) .
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Read our ELN profile > ([link removed])
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Read our Colombia coverage > ([link removed])
** Multimedia
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“Illegal sand extraction is one of the most profitable illicit industries in Brazil, and in much of the country, illegal sand use outstrips legal sand.”
Read the article > ([link removed])
** Trending Topics
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VENEZUELA ([link removed])
CHONEROS ([link removed])
COLOMBIA ([link removed])
SALVATORE MANCUSO ([link removed])
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