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:
An important article in yesterday's NY Times by Randal Archibold, Damien Cave, and Ginger Thompson.
Singer Jesus “Chuy” Quintanilla is the latest in a string of balladeers and musicians to be killed in Mexico’s drug war. This time the killing occurred in Texas.
SWJ contributor John Bertetto provides tips for bringing down criminal organizations with organizational analysis.
An offering from Viridiana Rios and SWJ El Centro Fellow Stephen Dudley.
How to Win the Mexican Drug War - Washington Post Op-Ed by Viridiana Rios.
Via Borderland Beat: The Mexican Office of Attorney General (PGR: Procuraduria General de la Republica) has decided to restrict official reports about organized crime in the country for 12 years.
A Baker Institute analysis from SWJ's El Centro Fellow Nathan Jones.
A new Texas Department of Public Safety Threat Assessment report states that criminal cartels are operating in Texas and are the No. 1 threat to the Lone Star State. Narcobloqueos (narco-blockades) are now being seen north of the border.
Wealthy, business-savvy Mexican immigrants transform Texas city by Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times.
Europe faces serious security challenges that continue to grow in scale and sophistication.
The International Crisis Group published a new report on 'criminal cartels' in Mexico. The report Peña Nieto’s Challenge: Criminal Cartels and Rule of Law in Mexico, is the International Crisis Group's first report on Mexico.
A Mexico Border Shootout Reveals Effort to Cover Up Violence - Written by InSight Crime.
Little attention has been paid to non-state actors conducting cyberwars against each other and the disruptive effects these wars can have on nation-states. By Paul Rexton Kan.
Spread of Vigilantes Sparks Debate in Mexico by Mark Stevenson, Associated Press.
MOGO (Making Order using Google as an Oracle) is highly cost effective and provides very significant OSINT (open source intelligence) analytical capabilities via a web crawler approach.
This may very well be the first targeted assassination of a Mexican public safety official by a sniper utilizing a .50 cal rifle.
SWJ El Centro Fellow Vanda Felbab-Brown's new paper.
Mexican Cartel Tactical Note # 17 : Indications & Warnings (I&W) for Small Caliber Mortar Deployment.
The writings of SWJ El Centro Fellows John Sullivan, Paul Kan, and Robert Bunker are mentioned in a work with an anti-statist and anti-capitalist perspective.
Santa Muerte: Inspired and Ritualistic Killings (Part 1 of 3)
Drug traffickers utilize “saints” and spirits to protect themselves from U.S. law enforcement. Some information and support for law enforcement officers.
US Military Expands its Drug War in Latin America by Martha Mendoza, Associated Press.