El Centro

An overview of the recent findings of the Justice in Mexico Project.

Via Borderland Beat: "For more than 48 hours armed men held the entire town of Marcos Castellanos hostage, killing two people and kidnapping a police officer. After the attack most of the police force resigned…”

Grenades are becoming more and more common in Mexico with thousands seized from the gangs and cartels and are becoming an officer safety concern on this side of the border.

Rare photos of receovered cartel car bomb are reminiscent of IEDs found in Iraq.

Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto plans to create a Gendarmería Nacional, initially of 10,000 officers, to police the contested plazas and regions impacted by insecurity.

Op-Ed: The Need For A "Half-Pivot to the Americas" by Dr. Robert J. Bunker and posted by the US Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute.

Chinese Organized Crime in Latin America by R. Evan Ellis, National Defense University, PRISM.

Mérida Initiative: Transnational Security Governance or Governance Intervention?

US Army North has played an instrumental role over the past several years in building rapport and establishing new engagement opportunities with the Mexican Secretariat of National Defense.

Could Central American Gangs Usurp the Role of Mexican Cartels? By Edward Fox, Christian Science Monitor.

The Logic of Violence in Criminal War: Cartel-State Conflict in Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil.

Insights on AUSA ILW Panel: “Enhancing North American Security Along the Southwest Border”.

Harvard Tracks Mexican Drug Gangs via Google by Hannah Stone of InSightCrime.

Tracking the Steady Rise of Beheadings in Mexico by Elyssa Pachico of InSightCrime.

Mexico’s Drug Lords Ramp Up Their Arsenals with RPGs by Ioan Grillo, Time Magazine.

With 60,000 Dead, Mexicans Wonder Why Drug War Doesn't Rate in Presidential Debate by Sara Miller Llana, Christian Science Monitor.

It’s great to be back at Small Wars Journal. It’s been nearly a year since my last post. Since then, I returned to the United States after 24 consecutive months in Afghanistan and assumed command of U.S. Army North (Fifth Army).  I’d like to take a moment to talk about this incredible organization, especially our continuing partnership with Mexico's Secretariat of National Defense, or SEDENA.