Yet another Ecuadorian mayor was murdered last night. In this country, standing against corruption can be as perilous as working with it. Check out my latest for InSight Crime learn more bit.ly/444qtC6

New at @wola_org: Why Is #Migration Declining at the US-Mexico #Border in Early 2024?

- An unusual spring drop
- It's not “Operation Lone Star”
- #Mexico is bottling people up
- “Shutting down” asylum solves nothing
- Enough crackdowns: make asylum work.

wola.org/analysis/why-i…

Maduro’s ban on Maria Corina Machado is unjustified, and left the US government with very little choice but to snap back the sanctions. But the way in which it was done allows for continued strategic pressure and leverage points pre and post election.

🚨In Guatemala,the world's main cocaine corridor,criminals deforest to smuggle cocaine
Using IV, I show cocaine seizures in Colombia lead to ⬆️ violence in Guatemala as criminals compete for more lucrative drug market
⬆️Emigration from Guatemala to Mexico
tinyurl.com/7zs9y6s4

Google is opening a new office in El Salvador.

That's good news, but will Bukele's longer-term goal of attracting tech & tourism investment fix the country's struggling economy?

I wrote about the challenges to implementing Bukele's new economic model.

americasquarterly.org/article/el-sal…

Question for historians/journalists out there:

Has anyone ever written a history of Miami centered on its connections to Latin America and the Caribbean?

The issue was not so much building a case, but “overcoming the fear of going after some of these people, some of the most violent operators from Guatemala’s military regime,' I told CNN about the trial of former army chief Manuel Benedicto Lucas García.

cnn.com/2024/04/13/ame…

'Reports of extortion in the department of Atlántico, Colombia, rose... 570%.'

Another consequence of the reorganization of global drug markets.

Cocaine flows increasingly east-west, not north, through Colombia's Caribbean. So gangs turn to extortion.

insightcrime.org/news/decreased…

The nexus of Russian intelligence, the Assad regime, & Mexican cartels & meth...

You think far-fetched? Read my new piece in ⁦Foreign Affairs⁩

& an earlier piece on org crime in Russia, Ukraine, & Russian intel foreignaffairs.com/middle-east/mi…

Happening now!

I'll speak on democratic backsliding in Latin America today at 2pm ET at Syracuse U.

Watch via the link below for thoughts on:

- Why the region's democracies are stronger than many believe
- Why organized crime is the biggest threat to democracies today

maxwell.syr.edu/events/2024/04…

A timely analysis about Narco-Deforestation, written by Manuela Andreoni on the New York Times, mentions RIN project Amazon Underworld and Bram Ebus

The fate of Colombia’s rainforest may lay in the hands of a rebel group linked to drugs and illegal mining. nytimes.com/2024/04/11/cli…

Fascinating piece by my colleague Josh Kurlantzick on how Myanmar’s ruling military junta - under attack from an armed opposition - is nearing collapse.

Not a path toward regime transition you see much anymore, at least certainly not in Latin America.

cfr.org/blog/myanmars-…

The FT just published a big piece on Darién Gap migration & its political consequences for the U.S.

“We’re seeing the consequences of Venezuela’s economic and political meltdown,' I told reporters. 'It... hit Latin America hard... Now it’s rippling out.'

ig.ft.com/darien-gap/