Southeast Asia
Philippines: protests against martial law
Protests are emerging in the Philippines against ultra-hardline President Rodrigo Duterte's declaration of martial law in the southern island of Mindanao.
Tag: narco wars
The Andes
Colombia: push to resume glyphosate spraying
A new ruling by Colombia's top court may open the way for a resumption of glyphosate spraying to wipe out coca crops, which was suspended in 2015 due to health concerns.
Southern Cone
US guns to Brazilian narco-gangs
Amid fast-escalating nightmarish narco-violence in Brazil, police in Rio de Janeiro seized 60 assault rifles hidden in a freight shipment that had just arrived on a flight from Miami.
The Andes
Colombia: paramilitaries behind Bogotá terror?
Both the FARC and ELN guerillas denied responsibility for the deadly terror attack in Bogotá, but National Police had warned of an imminent provocation by right-wing paramilitaries.
The Andes
Peru: coca eradication met with guerilla attack
An aggressive new coca-eradication campaign in Peru was met with a deadly attack on security forces by remnant Sendero Luminoso guerillas in the targeted production zone.
Central America
Barrio 18 ‘Revolutionaries’ sentenced in massacre
A judge in El Salvador sentenced seven accused members of the country's feared "mara" gang networks to 390 years in prison each for a massacre at the town of San Juan Opico.
The Andes
Colombia: race to salvage peace process
Under pressure from a citizen mobilization for peace, Colombia's government is scrambling to revive the FARC disarmament and demobilization process after it nearly broke down.
Mexico
Mexico second most dangerous country on Earth?
A new study finding that Mexico is now the most dangerous country on Earth after war-torn Syria is rejected by the government, but even the military wants out of "drug war."
Southeast Asia
Duterte declares martial law in south Philippines
Duterte's declaration of martial law in Mindanao is ostensibly in response to an ISIS-linked terrorist group, but will give security forces a still freer hand in his murderous "war on drugs."
The Amazon
Brazil, Bolivia launch joint anti-narco operation
Bolivia and Brazil agreed to coordinate their military forces to fight criminal gangs that operate on their shared jungle border, long porous for drug and arms traffickers.
Mexico
Reynosa shoot-outs: death throes of Gulf Cartel?
The current flare-up in the border town of Reynosa may signal a turning point in the long war between Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel in Mexico's violence-torn Tamaulipas state.
Southeast Asia
Trump-Duterte ‘bromance’ bodes ill for freedom
As Rodrigo Duterte openly defies rights groups and the UN in his murderous war on low-level drug dealers and users, Trump invites the Philippine strongman to the White House.