Southeast Asia

Philippines: legal challenge to deadly drug war

Manila's Center for International Law is going to bat for citizens targeted by President Rodrigo Duterte's lawless and murderous "war on drugs"—despite the threat of reprisals.

North America

Sessions pledges crackdown on Latin gangs

Attorney General Jeff Sessions pledged "zero tolerance for gang violence"—singling out MS-13, the Central American narco-network with roots on the streets of Los Angeles.

Mexico

Mexico: fugitive narco-governors snared

Javier Duarte, the ex-governor of Mexico's Veracruz state, was detained by Interpol in Guatemala—the latest in a string of fugitive Mexican ex-governors to be arrested abroad.

East Asia

Global execution stats: good news, bad news

The latest Amnesty International report on global use of the death penalty shows a decline last year—but China's massive statistics are kept secret and therefore not factored in.

Mexico

Mexicans mobilize against Trump border wall

Andres Manuel López Obrador, Mexico's left-populist presidential front-runner, has filed a complaint with the Inter-American Human Rights Commission against Trump's proposed wall.

Central America

Guatemala: Barrio 18 gang in deadly prison siege

Three guards were killed as riot police stormed a juvenile detention center outside Guatemala City, where members of the notorious Barrio 18 narco-gang had staged un uprising.

The Andes

Will coca sabotage Colombian peace process?

Enemies of Colombia's peace process are dealt propaganda assistance by the fact that as the long civil war has wound down, coca leaf production in the country has been soaring.

Central America

Nicaragua nabs cocaine lord of Miskito Coast

A Colombian cartel operative who established Central America's remote and lawless Miskito Coast as a major cocaine transfer point was arrested by Nicaraguan authorities.