Latin American Organized Crime’s Real Target: Local Government
Instead of seeking influence over presidents and legislatures, the region's criminal groups are increasingly focusing on governors and mayors.
On February 1, the Trump administration accused Mexico’s government of maintaining an “intolerable alliance” with drug trafficking organizations—an allegation Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum immediately dismissed as “slanderous.” The White House provided no new evidence to support the claim, perhaps because proof is somewhat elusive. Despite cases of narco-corruption in past governments that reach all the way to the top—like the conviction of ex-federal security secretary Genaro García Luna in U.S. federal court on drug trafficking charges—there is no “smoking...
Read this article on the Americas Quarterly website. | Subscribe to AQ.
