Police journalists from Latin America tell how crime grew in the region

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

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In this summary, they explain to us the origins of citizen insecurity in each of their countries, the challenges of coverage and the 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 the similar challenges facing journalism 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 supports the relationship of trust that has existed in our journalistic community for more than three decades, and is the engine that drives us. to produce high-quality collaborative works, developed even in adverse conditions, overcoming the fear of threats and impunity to reveal news events that impact the lives of our readers”says Lyng-Hou Ramírez, director of the GDA.

A common crisis

Although each country faces insecurity from a particular 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 evade justice, gang disputes and control of space, control of mafias from prisons, the existence of gangs more organized than the authority itself, generalized fear when walking, and the easy recovery of organizations after they are dismantled.

“Last year there were 38 corpses tortured, bagged and dumped on public roads, and this year the figure is 52 so far”

“In Latin America we are crossed by the same matrix, which is that of organized crime. Other criminal activities arise from it, from the most complex such as drug trafficking to the simplest such as theft on public roads.”explains Fernando Rodríguez, a journalist specialized in insecurity for the newspaper “La Nación” in Argentina. In his 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 that rate and reached 11.4. In the main city of Santa Fe, Rosario, one of the most important narcocriminal organizations in the region operates: 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, settling drug accounts) is 20 per 100,000 inhabitants, five times higher than the average. national.

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: the Tren de Aragua of Venezuela. “They arrived in Colombia to compete with national organized crime. They penetrated the drug micro-marketing territories of gangs, such as the Paisas and the Costeños. This made the crimes become bloodier. Last year there were 38 bodies tortured, bagged and dumped on public roads, and this year the figure is 52 so far”, explains Jonathan Toro, journalist for “El Tiempo” from Colombia.

The tentacles of this organization are also felt in Chile, adds Andrea Chaparro of “El Mercurio”, where, according to the latest surveys, 80% of people have either been a victim of a crime or know someone who has been a victim. of a crime and not once, but two or three times. “We have phenomena that we had not seen before, such as drop by drop. For now, there is a small presence of the Aragua Train in neighborhoods of Santiago and the north of Chile, and it is increasingly increasing its presence 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, the members of the Tren de Aragua have managed to diversify it throughout South America.

“The increase in poverty that the pandemic brought with it has been a trigger for the most violent groups to recruit young people”

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

How did we get to this point of savagery? Although the factors are multiple, they all agree that the increase in poverty brought about 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 began to kill people for simple robberies, such as taking money or a cell phone.“explains Toro.

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

In El Salvador, on the other hand, these levels of violence have marked its history with gang confrontations and extortions that even overshadow the coverage of drug trafficking, says Ricardo Flores, journalist for “La Prensa Gráfica.”

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

Late responses

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

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

In Peru, meanwhile, 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 2.6%.