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:

COVID-19 is reconfiguring organized crime in Latin America and the Caribbean

by Robert Muggah, by Steven Dudley | Tue, 03/02/2021 - 3:59pm | 1 comment

SWJ-El Centro Announces New Slate of Fellows/Associates for 2021

by SWJ Editors | Mon, 03/01/2021 - 9:29pm | 0 comments

Small Wars Journal-El Centro (SWJ-El Centro) is pleased to announce the Class of Fellows and Associates for 2021. Fellows have already made significant and distinguished contributions to the field through the course of their career. Associates are actively engaged in research or practice in the region and in transnational organized crime or insurgency.

SWJ El Centro Book Review – In the Vortex of Violence: Lynching, Extralegal Justice, and the State in Post-Revolutionary Mexico

by Daniel Weisz | Thu, 02/25/2021 - 3:53pm | 1 comment

Third Generation Gangs Strategic Note No. 35: Mara Salvatrucha Training Camp Dismantled by Honduran Police

by John P. Sullivan, by Robert Bunker | Sat, 02/20/2021 - 9:38pm | 1 comment

SWJ El Centro Book Review – Terrorist Recruitment of U.S. Gangs: Global Criminal Alliances and Biological Weapons

by Carter F. Smith | Mon, 02/15/2021 - 11:44pm | 4 comments

FAOs as Force Multipliers During JIIM Operations

by Ola Ogunlola, by Matthew N. Hite | Tue, 02/09/2021 - 7:18pm | 1 comment

Criminal Distancing: Drug Cartels and the State during Covid-19

by Paul Rexton Kan | Tue, 02/02/2021 - 6:24pm | 1 comment

SWJ El Centro Book Review – Las Cinco Vidas de Genaro García Luna

by Daniel Weisz | Mon, 02/01/2021 - 9:14pm | 1 comment

SWJ El Centro Reseña del libro – Las Cinco Vidas de Genaro García Luna

by Daniel Weisz | Mon, 02/01/2021 - 9:04pm | 1 comment

Third Generation Gangs Strategic Note No. 34: The Ranfla Indictment and the Command and Control (C2) Targeting of MS-13’s ‘Board of Directors’ in El Salvador

by Robert Bunker, by John P. Sullivan | Mon, 01/25/2021 - 3:36pm | 1 comment

Mexican Cartel Tactical Note #48: Video of CJNG Engagement of Autodefensa Mounted Infantry in IAFV in La Bocanda, Michoacán

by Robert Bunker, by John P. Sullivan | Wed, 12/30/2020 - 6:15pm | 55 comments

SWJ El Centro Book Review – Mexico’s Drug War and Criminal Networks: The Dark Side of Social Media

by Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera | Mon, 12/28/2020 - 7:12pm | 1 comment

Mexican Cartel Strategic Note No. 32: Former Governor Assassinated in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco

by Patricia H. Escamilla-Hamm, by John P. Sullivan, by Nathan P. Jones, by Robert Bunker | Wed, 12/23/2020 - 11:49pm | 1 comment

Mexican Cartel Tactical Note #47: Anti-CJNG IAFV Trenches Dug in Michoacán

by Robert Bunker, by John P. Sullivan, by Alma Keshavarz | Fri, 12/11/2020 - 3:00pm | 1 comment

The Guardia Nacional (National Guard): Why a New Militarized Police in Mexico

by Patricia H. Escamilla-Hamm | Tue, 12/08/2020 - 11:00pm | 2 comments

Mexican Drug Violence: Hybrid Warfare, Predatory Capitalism and the Logic of Cruelty

by SWJ Editors | Mon, 12/07/2020 - 3:44pm | 9 comments

Small Wars Journal is pleased to announce the release of Mexican Drug Violence: Hybrid Warfare, Predatory Capitalism and the Logic of Cruelty. This new Small Wars Journal–El Centro book by Dr. Teun A. Voeten examines the violence in Mexico’s drug war.

Mexican Cartel Strategic Note No. 31: Escalating Violence in the Greater Tijuana Plaza

by John P. Sullivan, by Robert Bunker, by Nathan P. Jones | Fri, 12/04/2020 - 7:10pm | 1 comment

Third Generation Gangs Strategic Note No. 33: Brazilian Gangs (Quadrilhas) Wage Urban Bank Raids in a New ‘Cangaço’

by John P. Sullivan, by José de Arimatéia da Cruz, by Robert Bunker | Wed, 12/02/2020 - 10:15pm | 1 comment

SWJ El Centro Book Review – MS-13: The Making of America’s Most Notorious Gang

by Robert Bunker | Tue, 11/10/2020 - 9:02pm | 1 comment

SWJ El Centro Book Review – Votes, Drugs, and Violence: The Political Logic of Criminal Wars in Mexico

by Daniel Weisz | Sat, 10/31/2020 - 9:08pm | 1 comment

Third Generation Gangs Strategic Note No. 32: Militias (Milícias) Surpass Gangs (Gangues) in Territorial Control in Rio de Janeiro

by John P. Sullivan, by José de Arimatéia da Cruz, by Robert Bunker | Mon, 10/26/2020 - 7:43pm | 37 comments

Mexican Cartel Tactical Note #46: Weaponized Drones (Aerial Improvised Explosive Devices) Deployed by CJNG in Tepalcatepec, Michoacán

by Robert Bunker, by John P. Sullivan, by David Kuhn, by Alma Keshavarz | Mon, 10/05/2020 - 8:41pm | 2 comments