Police journalists from Latin America tell how crime has grown in the region

O citizen insecurity It is a disease that has hit Latin America in recent decades. To better understand this common challenge in the region, El Comercio convened journalists from police and judicial coverage from various media outlets of Grupo de Diários América (GDA) in Mexico, El Salvador, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica and Peru.

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In this summary, they explain the origins of citizen insecurity in each of their countries, the coverage challenges and possible solutions to this problem that affects millions of people in the region. The conversation, moderated by Juan Pablo León, editor of the National section of El Comercio, served to highlight similar challenges that journalism faces in the region. “The exchange of ideas, experiences and resources between the different editorial teams of the media that make up the GDA is the basis that sustains the relationship of trust that has existed in our journalistic community for more than three decades, and is the engine that moves us. produce high-quality collaborative work, developed even in adverse conditions, overcoming the fear of threats and impunity to reveal news that impacts the lives of our readers”, says Lyng-Hou Ramírez, director of the GDA.

Although each country faces insecurity from a specific source, there are at least 10 situations shared among all: the recent – ​​and growing – coldness and savagery of criminals, impunity, the few immigration filters for foreign criminals, the recruitment of minors as a modus operandi to escape justice, gang disputes and control of space, control of mafias from prisons, existence of gangs more organized than the authority itself, widespread fear when walking and easy recovery of organizations after being dismantled.

“In Latin America we are crossed by the same matrix, which is organized crime. It gives rise to other criminal activities, from the most complex such as drug trafficking to the simplest such as robberies on public roads.”, explains Fernando Rodríguez, journalist specializing in insecurity at the Argentine newspaper “La Nación”. In your country, during 2022 alone, according to the latest official record, the intentional homicide rate was 4.2 per 100,000 inhabitants. However, the province of Santa Fe more than doubled this rate and reached 11.4. In the main city of Santa Fé, Rosario, there is one of the most important drug criminal organizations in the region: La Banda de los Monos. Territorial disputes between gangs have left a trail of violence, blood and death in this city, and the crime rate (almost all the result of revenge, drug settlement) is 20 per 100 thousand inhabitants, five times higher than the national average.

Although La Banda de los Monos has a concentrated presence in Rosario, there is another in the region that has managed to expand to several countries: Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua. “They arrived in Colombia to compete with national organized crime. They penetrated the drug micro-marketing territories of gangs, such as the Paisas and Costeños. This made the crimes more bloody. Last year, 38 bodies were tortured, bagged and dumped on public roads, and this year the number is 52 so far”, explains Jonathan Toro, journalist for “El Tiempo” in Colombia.

El Salvador’s megaprison has capacity for more than 40,000 inmates. A journalist from this country indicates that there is no right to information about the real effects of the Bukele plan. (YURI CORTEZ/)

The tentacles of this organization are also felt in Chile, adds Andrea Chaparro from “El Mercurio”, where, according to the latest research, 80% of people have either been victims of a crime or know someone who has been a victim of a crime. a crime and not once, but two or three times. “We have phenomena that we hadn’t seen before, like drop by drop. For now, there is a small presence of Trem Aragua in the neighborhoods of Santiago and the north of Chile, and its presence is increasingly increasing in the south of the country”, he indicates. In Peru, this modality is not foreign. In fact, according to journalist Abby Ardiles from El ComercioAlthough this practice was not common in Venezuela, members of Trem de Aragua managed to diversify it throughout South America.

Extreme violence is also shared. “Authorities point out that Costa Rica’s hit men and drug trafficking gangs learned from Mexican organizations. This is why we often see extremely violent deaths, such as the murder of a man outside a school last month, who was shot more than 50 times by four hooded men armed with AK-47s.″, says journalist Vanessa Loaiza from “La Nación” in Costa Rica.

How did we get to this point of savagery? Although the factors are multiple, everyone agrees that the increase in poverty caused by the pandemic has been a trigger for the most violent groups to recruit young people. “In Bogotá, there is an exacerbation of post-pandemic violence. Criminals started killing people for simple theft, such as taking money or cell phones.“explains Toro.

A similar situation exists in Mexico, where as of Thursday, the 2nd, 98 victims of intentional homicide had been reported in the country, the majority attributed to organized crime. This country records an average of more than 30,000 murders per year, according to journalist Manuel Espino from “El Universal”.

In El Salvador, on the other hand, these levels of violence marked its history with clashes between gangs and extortion that overshadowed even the coverage of drug trafficking, says Ricardo Flores, journalist at “La Prensa Gráfica”.

Mexico has more than 30,000 murders per year. (YAHIR CEBALLOS/)

The experience of this country, however, shows another difficulty in covering insecurity in Latin America: the lack of transparency on the part of governments. “It is true that homicide levels in El Salvador are at historic lows. […]. But behind this there are hidden truces and negotiations that journalism tries to bring to light. Since Nayib Bukele’s government took power, we have not been able to use our right to the Access to Information Law“, Explain.

If the problem is similar, the governments’ ineffective and often late solution is also repeated in the region. “They never respond to a deep, concrete and impartial x-ray of the problem. Governments took measures against specific aspects of the situation, as if they were patches to cover a wound, but not to treat a disease.”, says Argentine journalist Fernando Rodríguez.

The same happens in Colombia, where Toro warns that authorities do not recognize the presence of foreign crimes. “For them it is easier to say that “they are common criminal gangs”. However, ‘El Tiempo’ and other Colombian media outlets report every week with evidence about the presence of the Aragua Train“, Explain.

Meanwhile, in Peru, the Government chose to apply states of emergency in Lima and Callao from 2022. However, crime has not decreased. On the contrary, people’s perception of victimization increased by 2.6%.

Source: Elcomercio