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Copyright of URVIO - Revista Latinoamericana de Seguridad Ciudadana is the property of FLACSO - Ecuador (Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objective/context: After the paramilitary demobilization in Colombia, Cali and Medellín-major cities with a long history of political and criminal violence-saw a decline in violence despite the continuing operation of criminal groups. Yet, while Cali remained more violent than the national average, with criminal groups displaying less ability to regulate local affairs and security, Medellín became less violent than the national average and criminal groups engaged in more intensive governance. Methodology: I compare these cities using case studies constructed through fieldwork and interviews with security officials, NGO and social leaders, and former members of groups, drawing on my long-term, ongoing research engagement in both locations. Conclusions: The contrast between these cities exemplifies varied manifestations of post-conflict criminality. I argue that this variation in criminal governance is connected to the wartime balance of power, specifically, the level of territorial control and political connections armed groups had before the demobilization. Where control and political connections of paramilitary before demobilization were high, post-conflict crime groups were more likely to engage in governance behaviors. By contrast, disputed territories during wartime were likely to experience less criminal governance. Drawing on path dependence ideas, I introduce an overlooked mechanism through which wartime orders affect criminal behavior: learning processes inside and outside criminal groups. Originality: I show that to fully understand post-conflict criminality, it is crucial to consider armed actors peripherally involved in the war but essential for territorial control, whereas to understand criminal governance, the mid-ranks of armed groups and learning processes are crucial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the making of carceral citizenship in Guatemala through an ethnographic analysis of la talacha – informal prison taxation schemes. Taxation is a key technology of citizenship. Tax enforcement mechanisms, the distribution of tax burdens, citizens’ willingness to pay, and their expectations of what they should get in return all make taxation an essential lens through which to understand state formation and citizens’ perceptions of and relations with one another. In Guatemala, where organized crime competes with and subsumes state institutions in ways that profoundly impact everyone, the state is only one of many entities claiming the right to tax, at turns competing and colluding with its underworld. These blurred dynamics are hyper-distilled in the country’s prison system, where state-prisoner networks tax the imprisoned population in the name of collective survival and elite profits. Based on extended ethnographic fieldwork behind bars, I show how la talacha sets the terms of carceral citizenship by organizing prisoner-state co-governance, reifying the prison’s socioeconomic hierarchies, and shaping inmates' relationships with the world beyond the prison. Resumen: Fiscalidad y encarcelaciones en Guatemala: Prisiones, extorsiones y ciudadanía Este artículo explora la construcción de la ciudadanía carcelaria en Guatemala a través de un análisis etnográfico de la talacha: esquema informal de tributación carcelaria. La fiscalidad es una tecnología clave de la ciudadanía. Los mecanismos de aplicación de impuestos, la distribución de las cargas fiscales, la disposición de los ciudadanos a pagar y sus expectativas de lo que deberían obtener a cambio hacen de la fiscalidad una lente esencial a través de la cual entender la formación del Estado y las percepciones de los ciudadanos y las relaciones entre ellos. En Guatemala, donde el crimen organizado compite con las instituciones estatales y las subsume en formas que afectan profundamente a todos, el Estado es sólo una de las muchas entidades que reclaman el derecho a tributar, compitiendo y confabulando a su vez con el hampa. Estas dinámicas difusas se hiperdestilan en el sistema penitenciario del país, donde las redes entre el Estado y los presos gravan a la población reclusa en nombre de la supervivencia colectiva y los beneficios de las élites. Basándome en un extenso trabajo de campo etnográfico entre rejas, muestro cómo la talacha establece los términos de la ciudadanía carcelaria organizando el cogobierno entre presos y Estado, reificando las jerarquías socioeconómicas de la prisión y configurando las relaciones de los reclusos con el mundo más allá de la cárcel.

Copyright of Latin American Policy is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Criminal governance is a phenomenon that is difficult to measure due to its clandestine nature, making it equally difficult to study its relationship with other problems that, like drug trafficking, severely impact particularly vulnerable populations. This article aims to investigate the complex relationship between criminal governance and drug trafficking in Colombia, through the creation of a Departmental Criminal Governance Index (IDGC) and an indicator of drug trafficking crimes. This research is novel, as it is based on data mining techniques to process large volumes of information. From the definition of constructs, the selection of variables and the definition of indicators to their measurement, weighting and visualization, this work provides inputs for criminal policy and anti-drug policy, including differentiated analyzes for each department of Colombia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The persistence and activity of illegal groups in Colombia can be explained through the unfeasibility of the traditional concept of the modern State. The objective of this article is to analyze how the fundamental principles of sovereignty and governance implied by the idea of the modern State are undermined by the endemic presence of illegal structures in Colombia. Through an eclectic and hybrid methodological approach, it is shown how shared sovereignty and criminal governance have been configured in the country, especially after the demobilization of the FARC-EP and the distraction of the national security agenda regarding its objectives. It is concluded that Colombia must continue on the path of cohesion, to consolidate its national interests and protect citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Territorially Focused Development Programs (PDET), derived from the 2016 peace agreement, seek to strengthen state institutions, and reduce the incidence of criminal organizations in areas affected by armed conflict. This article analyzes the correlation between resources allocated to state strengthening in municipalities prioritized by the PDET and criminal violence rates, through a statistical analysis, segmented into four corridors, during the period 2017-2019 and 2020. The results show that only the Amazon-Guaviare corridor reduced violence rates as an effect of investment expenditures, particularly enforced disappearances. It is considered that investment in the PDETs does not necessarily have an impact on violence rates, as there are criminal governance practices in which illegal actors rearrange their interests in the territory and adapt to the institutional transformations of the post-agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

La persistencia y actividad de grupos ilegales en Colombia se puede explicar a través de la inviabilidad del concepto tradicional del Estado moderno. El objetivo de este artículo es analizar cómo los principios fundamentales de la soberanía y la gobernanza que implica la idea del Estado moderno son menoscabados por la presencia endémica de estructuras ilegales en Colombia. Mediante una aproximación metodológica ecléctica e híbrida, se muestra cómo se han configurado en el país algunas soberanías compartidas y gobernanzas criminales, en especial tras la desmovilización de las FARC-EP y la disipación de la agenda de seguridad nacional respecto a sus objetivos. Se concluye que Colombia debe continuar en la senda de la cohesión, para consolidar sus intereses nacionales y proteger la ciudadanía.

Las gobernanzas criminales son un fenómeno difícil de medir por su naturaleza clandestina, por lo cual resulta igualmente difícil estudiar su relación con otras problemáticas que, como el tráfico de drogas, impactan severamente a poblaciones particularmente vulnerables. Este artículo se propone investigar la compleja relación entre gobernanzas criminales y el narcotráfico en Colombia, mediante la creación de un Índice Departamental de Gobernanzas Criminales (IDGC) y un indicador de delitos por narcotráfico. Esta investigación es novedosa, ya que se basa en técnicas de minería de datos para procesar grandes volúmenes de información. Desde la definición de constructos, la selección de variables y la definición de indicadores hasta su medición, ponderación y visualización, este trabajo ofrece insumos para la política criminal y la política antidrogas, incluyendo análisis diferenciados para cada departamento de Colombia.

Los Programas de Desarrollo con Enfoque Territorial (PDET), surgidos del acuerdo de paz de 2016, buscan fortalecer las instituciones estatales y disminuir la incidencia de organizaciones criminales en zonas afectadas por el conflicto armado. Este artículo analiza la correlación entre recursos destinados al fortalecimiento estatal en municipios priorizados por el PDET y los índices de violencia criminal, mediante un análisis estadístico, segmentado en cuatro corredores, durante el periodo 2017-2019 y 2020. Los resultados evidencian que solo el corredor Amazonía-Guaviare redujo índices de violencia como efecto de gastos de inversión, particularmente las desapariciones forzadas. Se plantea que la inversión en los PDET no necesariamente repercute en índices de violencia, pues se dan prácticas de gobernanza criminal en las cuales actores ilegales reacomodan sus intereses en el territorio y se adaptan a las transformaciones institucionales del posacuerdo.

This article analyzes the criminal governance exercised by the Mexican criminal organization Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), contributing to the scarce information available on this topic. Specifically, we ask how the CJNG has exercised territorial control to ensure the operation of its businesses, mostly concentrated in the production and sale of illegal drugs. Based on a small number of existing studies and publicly available information, we argue that the CJNG relies on a dual system of territorial control consisting of the prioritization of violent coercion vis-àvis its opponents together with a discourse of protecting Mexicans sustained by selected initiatives to provide security and other basic services to the population to gain legitimacy. This combination has allowed the cartel to grow and expand rapidly over the last decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to show the evolution over the last three decades of the scientific research agenda on the category of criminal governance and to make a projection into the future. Using bibliometric tools and algorithms provided by the Bibliometrics package in R software, a descriptive and conceptual examination of the documents found in the Web of Science and Scopus databases was made. Using the Tree of Science metaphor, areas of special attention in research were identified. It was found that this category has been consolidating in the national security research agenda, especially in four clusters, which have broadened the traditional vision of governance and security. Finally, some lines of interest are proposed to analyze this conceptual category. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a picture of the political economy of tourism and violence in Medellín. It analyses the way criminal actors and tourism entrepreneurs share a territory, by shedding light on the extortion of tour guides, street performers and business owners in some of its barrios populares (poor neighbourhoods). The main objective is to demonstrate how intimate relationships – between and among kin, friends, long-term acquaintances – impact what is considered the criminal governance of tourism. This contribution shows that extortion in Medellín meets only limited resistance from tourism entrepreneurs. It also emphasises how criminals, tourism actors and tourists themselves contribute to the creation of fragile secured spaces in the developing touristscapes of Colombia's second city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article aims to characterize the type of governance exercised in their territories by the collectives of Caracas, Venezuela, based on the cooperative relationships they established with the State at the beginning of the 21st century. Interviews were conducted with neighbors, people working in the area and police officers during 2018, 2019 and 2021. Secondary sources were consulted from the organizations themselves, as well as from the media and social networks. The results showed that the collectives have a territorial control that limited the drug retail market, substitute for police forces and impose on neighbors norms of social and political behavior and punishments not contemplated in the law; they have a financial base based on contributions from the national government and that they used to build legitimacy based on the distribution of benefits they have obtained from the state and links with national political power. The collectives exercise a shared or collaborative governance that can be catalogued as a duality in power or as a hybrid political order, in which they share the territorial domain with the State, acting in parallel or superimposed, where the group acts to favor the interests of the government and the government acts in favor of the group, so they ceased to be a subversive political movement to become an expression of the constituted power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Tren de Aragua is the non-state armed group that directs criminal activities in the state, whose primary function is to maintain absolute control of the communities that make up the peace zones. In order to understand the dynamics and realities of the non-state armed groups in Aragua State, interviews were conducted with key informants, members of the non-state armed groups and community members close to or related to the non-state armed groups (NSAGs), aged between 24 and 63 years old, community members, gang members and public officials. The results showed that the group functions as a centralized and deconcentrated structure, where orders are issued from the Tocorón prison by the maximum leader of the organization and are executed under the responsibility of the local "pranes". In the context of the pandemic, the economic crisis and the great emigration of the country, The Tren de Aragua has expanded its criminal action to other countries such as Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Chile, where it has had a catalyzing effect of violence and social instability, as well as a negative and xenophobic effect towards the Venezuelan diaspora, generating rejection and discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Este artículo busca mostrar la evolución en las últimas tres décadas de la agenda de investigación científica sobre la categoría de gobernanzas criminales y hacer una proyección a futuro. A través de herramientas bibliométricas y mediante algoritmos provistos por el paquete Bibliometrics del software R, se hizo un examen descriptivo y conceptual de los documentos hallados en las bases de datos de Web of Science y Scopus. A través de la metáfora del árbol de la ciencia (Tree of Science), se identificaron áreas de especial atención en la investigación. Se encontró que esta categoría se ha venido consolidando en la agenda de investigación en seguridad nacional, especialmente en cuatro clústeres, que han ampliado la visión tradicional sobre gobernanza y seguridad. Finalmente, se proponen unas líneas de interés para analizar esta categoría conceptual.

This article analyzes popular empowerment and its Latin American understanding of the concept. Based on a casuistic and discursive analysis of Hugo Chávez and Chavismo, it examines the epistemological and empirical errors in the use of this concept since the dawn of the Bolivarian or Chavista revolution to understand how the transition towards a model of participatory democracy and, therefore, of popular empowerment results in criminal governance. This result derives from the classist nature of Chavez's discourse, in which the bourgeois condition of middle and upper sectors of Venezuelan society is criminalized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El artículo ofrece un análisis del concepto de empoderamiento (empowerment) popular y de su acepción latinoamericana de potenciación popular. A partir de un análisis casuístico y discursivo de Hugo Chávez y el chavismo, se examinan los errores epistemológicos y empíricos en el uso de este concepto desde los albores de la revolución bolivariana o chavista, para comprender cómo la transición hacia un modelo de democracia participativa y, por ende, de empoderamiento popular resulta en gobernanzas criminales. Este resultado se deriva de la naturaleza clasista del discurso de Chávez, en el que se criminaliza la condición burguesa de sectores medios y altos de la sociedad venezolana.

La propuesta central del presente documento es aproximar un modelo teórico de la mujer en la violencia criminal partiendo de algunas dinámicas centroamericanas. A través del process tracing se plantean los estadios de la mujer como receptora de violencia y la mujer como vehículo de violencia. En efecto, la relación entre género y criminalidad revela la interacción entre dos facetas fundamentales: la integración subterránea y la gobernanza criminal en la región. Se encuentra que las integraciones subterráneas y criminales son mucho más efectivas de realizar porque los costos de transacción entre los actores son menores, mientras que, entre Estados, por su propia configuración, hay más limitaciones y costos robustos de integración por variables como la soberanía, la política, la economía y la seguridad. Con base en lo anterior, es menester mencionar que la reducción de la violencia contra la mujer no radica en el aumento de las penas, sino en el funcionamiento efectivo de los operadores de justicia. Una reducción del fenómeno debe partir de una mayor agilidad de las investigaciones y del fortalecimiento de la política criminal para minimizar la capacidad de acción y coacción. Por otro lado, la efectividad de la política busca aumentar la persuasión frente a potenciales miembros de redes criminales para que desistan de su participación.

El objetivo del presente artículo es problematizar la concepción dualista (es decir, Estado y sociedad como compartimentos estancos), a partir de la cual se han analizado tradicionalmente las dinámicas de producción de orden territorial. A tal efecto, se retoman las nociones de “estatalidad híbrida” y “clusters de orden”, con miras a complejizar el análisis de la aparente “incapacidad” o “ausencia” estatal en la gestión de los territorios. La metodología adoptada es de base cualitativa, optándose por el diseño de estudio de caso para abordar la gestión de la pandemia por COVID-19 en las favelas de la Zona Norte de Río de Janeiro. Finalmente, se esbozan unas breves conclusiones al respecto.