Carlos Ernesto Mojica Lechuga maintains an unassuming presence; thin and balding, his only noticeable oddity is a tattoo on his forehead that reads “In memory of my mother.” Beneath this exterior, however, is one of the most notorious criminals in all of El Salvador and... MORE

Executive Summary  After four consecutive presidential terms and fifteen years in office, Hugo Chávez died on March 5 leaving behind a mixed legacy. While his supporters proudly call him El Comandante and vow to continue his socialist revolution, others decry his parochial economic policies, which have left... MORE

  Referring to the evolving political crisis in Venezuela, a Shanghai Academy of Social Science scholar, Zhang Jiazhe, recently remarked, if Hugo Chavez dies, “the diplomatic effect on China won’t be large because China-U.S. competition is in Asia not Latin America. Economically, China-Venezuela relations are... MORE

The Juzgado Primero de Instrucción (First Court of Instruction), in the small Salvadoran municipality of Soyapango, convicted Borromeo Enrique Henríquez Solórzano to 30 years in prison on June 3, 1998 for the double homicide of Roberto Carlos Hernandez and José Virgilio Gonzalez (Diario Oficial, October 3,... MORE

David Rosales Guzmán, Alias “El Comandante Diablo”   David Rosales Guzmán (a.k.a El Comandante Diablo–the Devil Commander), was captured alive by Mexican authorities on September 1, 2012. He is accused of functioning as the Gulf Cartel’s leader in Monterrey, Mexico, and is held in connection with... MORE

After Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC - Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) leader Guillermo León Sáenz Vargas (a.k.a Alfonso Cano) was killed in a bombing raid in Cauca Department, southwest Colombia on November 4, 2011, the seven-member FARC secretariat needed only 11 days to... MORE

In late June, President of Belarus Alyaksandr Lukashenka visited Cuba, Venezuela and Ecuador. He signed over 20 accords with the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, renewed acquaintances with Raul Castro in Cuba and started a new relationship with Rafael Correa, the President of Ecuador. The... MORE

Miguel Treviño Morales: A Founding Zeta  Miguel Treviño Morales was born on November 18, 1970 in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico (CNS News, April 13, 2009). He is wanted in Mexico and the U.S. in connection with drug trafficking and murder-related charges. Legal processes against him are ongoing within several... MORE

In April 2012, authorities in the prosperous and generally peaceful Caribbean nation of Belize intercepted a shipment of precursor chemicals sent from China and apparently bound for representatives of the Mexican cartel “Los Zetas.”  The shipment—sufficient to produce an estimated $10 billion in methamphetamines—highlights growing... MORE

Servando “La Tuta” Gómez Martínez  Servando Gómez Martínez (a.k.a. El Profe, La Tuta­—the teacher), was born in Arteaga, Michoacán, Mexico on February 6, 1966 (El Universal, August 7, 2009). He is co-leader of Los Caballeros Templarios (the Knights Templar), a Transnational Criminal Organization (TCO) based in the Michoacán... MORE