Juan Carlos Garzón Vergara, a researcher at the Woodrow Wilson Center and the Center for Latin American Studies at Georgetown University, has worked as a consultant for the United Nations Development Program and the Organization of American States. He is the author of Mafia & Co.: The Criminal Networks in Mexico, Brazil, and Columbia.
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Juan Carlos Garzón Vergara
Commentaries by Juan Carlos Garzón Vergara
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Latin America’s Adaptive Gangsters
BOGOTÁ – Many Latin American countries have made impressive gains in building state capacity and strengthening democracy in recent decades. …
Blog posts by Juan Carlos Garzón Vergara
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Colombia’s peace process: déjà vu in a polarized country
The current peace process in Colombia between the government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC rebel group is unfolding in the mi…
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Is Violence Against Women a Priority in Political Agendas?
The reality shows that it should be, according to United Nations, 7 out of 10 women experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime…
Recent comment received by Juan Carlos Garzón Vergara
Recent comments by Juan Carlos Garzón Vergara
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Latin America’s Adaptive Gangsters
Barbara I tried to wrote you but the email of Damen does not work.
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Latin America’s Adaptive Gangsters
Barbara, thank you for your comments. This is a good opportunity to highlight some of the points that I wrote in my column. I identify “…the failed war on drugs and criminalization of consumers” as one of the distortions that contributes to perpetuate the presence and influence of organized crime. Additionally, I made explicit my disagreement with the “iron fist” policies that cause many deaths and human rights violations in countries like Guatemala. It is clear that I am not part of the “US Foreign Policies”. I also would like to share with you that I worked in Guatemala for two years, during which time I had the opportunity to travel across different regions and see the difficult situation of this country. As a Colombian I am deeply committed to Guatemalans and the need to rethink the way security is built.
Latin America’s Adaptive Gangsters
Barbara Schieber: Juan Carlos, we have some suggestions that we would like to share with you. You can write to us. Damen Dowse at Project Syndicate has my e-mail.
Latin America’s Adaptive Gangsters
Gabriel Nagy: This explains why no 'war on drugs' is fought in the streets of New York, London, Sidney or Frankfurt. Fighting the war in Latin America pushes profits upwards benefiting bankers, politicians and inv…