In a context of profound state weaknesses, Ecuador has ceased to be a marginal actor and has instead become fully—and belatedly—integrated into the dynamics of transnational organized crime.
The violence that followed the recent events in Jalisco speaks not only of a criminal organization, but of the state's capacity—and its limits—to manage power vacuums.
Violence operates as a “hidden tax” that costs Latin America 3.5% of its GDP and chokes investment, productivity, and development, making security the region’s major outstanding economic policy.
Violence in Mexico takes on four distinct territorial faces, revealing a country where the State coexists, competes, or disappears in the face of organized crime.
