–Researched and Written by Simon Bannister– Issue Jul 01-31 2023: A state’s authority is derived from its monopoly on violence, the ability to provide for its populace, and the extent to which this populace considers it legitimate. The Guerrero uprising – in which thousands of residents mobilized against their municipal government, taking police hostage and seizing

Issue Jul 01-31 2023: Ecuador, which is currently considered the second most crime-ridden country in South America, suffered a “bloody week” that began with the shooting of the Manta mayor Agustín Intriago at a sporting event on July 23, 2023.

Issue Jul 01-31 2023: Quilombola residents of the Riacho Santo Antônio-Jitaí community in the Brazilian state of Bahia have faced over a decade of constant police harassment, as businessmen and state politicians attempt to acquire developable land attractive to real estate investment. The visceral and extralegal nature of this long standing dispute was captured on

Issue Jul 01-31 2023: A cease-fire between the National Liberation Army (ELN) and State Forces was agreed to begin on August 3rd, 2023, following the armed strike endured in the municipality of Chocó, Colombia.

Issue Jul 01-31 2023: The libertarian candidate Javier Milei unleashed the anger of the extreme right and organizations that defend those accused of crimes against humanity by affirming that those who committed crimes of this type must serve their sentences.

Issue Jun 21-30 2023: Gualberto Ramírez Gutiérrez, former head of Mexico’s anti-kidnapping squad, the Unidad Antisecuestros de la Subprocuraduría Especializada en Investigación de Delincuencia Organizada (SEIDO), was arrested on June 25th in relation to the disappearance of 43 students in Ayotzinapa.

Issue Jun 21-30 2023: President Luis Lacalle Pou, along with three of the former presidents who still live since the return to a democratic government, all took part in a ceremony at the headquarters for the Poder Legislativo, which was accompanied by a publicly organized vigil.

Issue Jun 21-30 2023: Police attempted to enforce the eviction of residents in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay. Police and residents clashed, resulting in a violent conflict. Última Hora of Asunción reported that while police attempted to carry out an eviction, barricades were set up and Molotov cocktails were thrown as a method of defense by

Issue Jun 14-20 2023: Twenty-four years after the forced disappearance of Antonio González Méndez by the paramilitary group Paz y Justicia, the Mexican federal government has continued to drag its feet in addressing the crime.

Issue Jun 14-20 2023: Total peace in Colombia is beginning to form to resolve the armed conflict through negotiations, but risks remain.