Transnational criminal organizations have become too well armed, resourced, and influential to be contained by law enforcement resources in Latin America, where official corruption is widespread, police are not trusted, ungoverned spaces leave a vacuum for crime to penetrate, and vulnerable publics are open to anyone who will provide the services and security the state cannot. The effects of crime and corruption on such a scale, permeating the political, social, and economic realms, must be met with an integrated law enforcement, military, and intelligence effort within a whole-of-government approach. Several countries are having success through a variety of approaches, but the problem remains severe

In “Latin” America, a new dynamism has emerged in the relationship between indigenous communities, representing at least 40 million people, and national governments, particularly in terms of Indian peoples’ belated incorporation into the region’s putative democracies as full citizens and their integration.