In a country where the pursuit of public office has become synonymous with peril, the 2024 Mexican election season serves as a stark reminder of the escalating violence that has gripped the nation for decades. The nation’s largest-ever election cycle, with nearly 20,000 local and federal seats contested, has resulted in the deaths of over 36 candidates since last June.
Read MoreJimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier, Haiti’s most prominent gang leader and former police officer, has reportedly filled the power vacuum left behind by Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s resignation. Henry took power in 2021 without an election following the assassination of then-Prime Minister Jovenel Moise, but CNN reports that Haiti has not held elections since.
Read MoreJuan Orlando Hernández, a former 2-term president of Honduras, has been indicted on drug-trafficking and firearm charges and was extradited to the United States for trial. Hernández has been accused of conspiring with infamous drug lords such as Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel also known as El Chapo, to import copious amounts of cocaine into the U.S and of possessing destructive firearms.
Read MoreHundreds of rehabilitation centers in the country have been raided and closed by police for being operated as clandestine centers by Drug gangs, officials say these hospitals lack proper patient care, says France24.
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News, the city is currently surrounded by 10,000 troops as Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele ordered a crackdown on gang activity following 62 gang-related murders on March 26, 2022. The plan aims to reduce the homicide rate in El Salvador to less than two per day, says Reuters.
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On October 3, 2022, a prison riot in the Cotopaxi Jail located in the city of Latacunga, Ecuador, left 43 prisoners injured and 16 dead, according to Ecuadorian news outlet Ecuavisa. The following day a ninth prison massacre caused by gang violence this year occurred at the Littoral Penitentiary leaving 13 prisoners dead, says ecuavisa
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Homicide rates soared in El Salvador during the last weekend of March, with the country reporting 89 homicide deaths in a period of four days compared to 79 homicide deaths in the entire month of February, says NBC News. Friday saw 14 homicides and Saturday saw 62 more, reports The Washington Post. This sparked President Nayib Bukele to declare a 30-day state of emergency, which began early morning on Sunday March 27.
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