Small Wars Journal

El Centro

SWJ El Centro, or "downtown" in Spanish, is our town square for analysis and discussion of Latin America's guerilla wars and criminal insurgencies.  More about El Centro here.

Recent El Centro Journal Articles and SWJ Blog Posts:

by Robert Bunker | Sun, 03/02/2014 - 2:39pm | 0 comments

Sinaloa Drug Cartel Can Continue Without 'Chapo' Guzman, Experts Say by Diana Washington Valdez, El Paso Times

by Byron Ramirez | Thu, 02/27/2014 - 2:22pm | 0 comments
by Robert Bunker | Wed, 02/19/2014 - 1:27pm | 0 comments

Strategic Horizons: All Options Bad If Mexico’s Drug Violence Expands to U.S. by Steven Metz, World Politics Review

by Robert Bunker | Wed, 02/05/2014 - 8:00pm | 0 comments

Members of the Texas-born Barrio Azteca gang are receiving training from Mexico's Zetas.

by Robert Bunker | Mon, 02/03/2014 - 1:08pm | 1 comment

One of the world's largest and most notorious drug cartels is targeting Hong Kong as it seeks to expand its operations into lucrative new markets.

by Robert Bunker | Thu, 01/30/2014 - 8:33am | 1 comment

Mexico essentially legalized the country’s growing “self-defense” groups while also announcing that security forces had captured one of the four top leaders of the Knights Templar drug cartel.

by Robert Bunker | Fri, 01/24/2014 - 8:27am | 1 comment

Mexican Cartel Strategic Note No. 17: Civil Self-Defense Groups Have Emerged in 11 Mexican States

by SWJ Editors | Sun, 01/19/2014 - 5:35pm | 0 comments

One fighter claimed to be a US Army veteran who returned to Mexico specifically to join the militias. There were many like him, he said.

by SWJ Editors | Tue, 01/14/2014 - 3:22pm | 12 comments

Mexican security forces sent to quell unrest in the western state of Michoacan have started disarming local vigilante groups, state officials say.

by SWJ Editors | Tue, 01/14/2014 - 8:53am | 0 comments

Hong Kong Triads Work with Mexican Drug Lords on Methamphetamine by Brian Harris, South China Morning Post.

by John P. Sullivan | Mon, 01/13/2014 - 5:47am | 4 comments
by Robert Bunker | Thu, 01/09/2014 - 4:02pm | 0 comments

The authors urge the U.S. to revisit the concept of hemispheric defense and develop and execute a new military strategy that will help maintain stability and prosperity in Latin America.

by Robert Bunker | Mon, 01/06/2014 - 6:35am | 0 comments

Drug Traffickers Threaten Central America's Democratic Gains by Elliott Abrams, Washington Post.

by SWJ Editors | Sun, 12/22/2013 - 1:35am | 1 comment

U.S. intelligence, GPS bomb kits help Latin American nation cripple rebel forces.

by SWJ Editors | Sat, 12/21/2013 - 11:32pm | 0 comments

In Honduras, Rival Gangs Keep a Death Grip on San Pedro Sula by Tracy Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times.

by Robert Bunker | Sat, 12/21/2013 - 9:23pm | 0 comments

Helicopter Gunships Used in Mexico Resort Battle - AP via ABC