Regional Overview: Latin America & the Caribbean | August 2023

Brazil: Deadly military police operations in São Paulo

Violence targeting civilians perpetrated by Brazilian state forces surged in August to the highest recorded monthly levels since ACLED began collecting data in 2018. The surge came after military police launched Operation Escudo on 28 July to combat organized crime following the killing of a police officer in Guarujá. At least 12 people were reportedly killed in São Paulo’s Baixada Santista region. The operation led to armed clashes and police raids, including 634 arrests throughout São Paulo’s metropolitan area. These events drove a 25% increase in violence targeting civilians at the hands of state forces in São Paulo state compared to the month prior, which already saw heightened levels.¹ The National Council for Human Rights in Brazil called for an immediate halt to the operation and for an investigation into the deaths of civilians and alleged police abuses.² Despite the existence of institutional bodies in charge of overseeing police transparency and accountability, they lack mechanisms to enforce their decisions.³ While the election of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had generated optimism for reform, bills aiming to reorganize law enforcement have so far included few provisions to improve police transparency.⁴

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Colombia: Armed groups clash as the ELN-government ceasefire takes effect

On 3 August, a six-month bilateral ceasefire agreement between the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the government came into effect, as part of President Gustavo Petro’s ‘Total Peace’ plan. While ongoing peace negotiations aim to reduce confrontation between armed groups and state forces, they have done little to reduce violence between armed groups. Not only has violence between armed groups continued across the country, but it has also grown deadlier with at least 27 related fatalities reported in August compared to 13 in July. Inter-armed group clashes were particularly deadly in Chocó, where ACLED records some of the highest numbers of fatalities this month. For the second time in two months, the ELN imposed a paro armado – an armed curfew enforced on the civilian population – in the Medio San Juan region, triggering deadly clashes with the Gulf Clan and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) dissident groups, in addition to the displacement and confinement of civilian populations. 

Elsewhere, in the Cauca department, heightened activity by FARC dissidents led to an increase in clashes between state forces and armed groups in August compared to the month prior. Cauca has long been a hotspot of armed conflict with the presence of several armed groups, including various FARC dissident factions. The department also serves as a coca production hub and access point to the Pacific coast. The surge in clashes with state forces precedes peace negotiations between the government and the FARC Central General Staff (EMC) held between 31 August and 2 September. Researchers have previously highlighted that armed groups have grown increasingly violent ahead of peace discussions to increase their leverage in ceasefire negotiations.⁵

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Ecuador: Political leaders assassinated ahead of presidential elections

Ecuador’s first round of elections took place on 20 August amid unprecedented political violence. Across the country, ACLED records a surge in attacks targeting candidates, including the fatal shooting of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio of the Construye Movement (MC25) on 9 August. Despite the government issuing a nationwide state of emergency following the assassination of Villavicencio, armed groups continued to carry out attacks, including a series of car bombings in the capital, Quito, and the province of Azuay, as well as the killing of a local Citizen Revolution party leader in Esmeraldas. These attacks contributed to the near doubling of violence against civilians and remote violence in August compared to the previous month. Organized crime groups also allegedly took over 50 law enforcement officers hostage in six different prisons across the country in response to the implementation of additional security measures in prisons and the relocation of inmates following Villavicencio’s murder.⁶

As Ecuador prepares for the second round of its presidential elections on 15 October, security concerns have emerged as a pivotal issue in the campaign. Candidates Luisa González of the left-wing Citizen Revolution Movement and Daniel Noboa of National Democratic Action have both presented plans aiming to tackle the issue of rising insecurity by improving the judicial system, strengthening law enforcement capacities, and combatting socio-economic hardship.⁷ The recent escalation, however, suggests that organized crime groups are increasingly infiltrating public life and the political sphere in Ecuador, casting a shadow over the upcoming run-off.

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Guatemala and Mexico: CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel conflict spills over the border

Ongoing fighting between the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and Sinaloa Cartel drove increases in political violence along both sides of the Guatemala-Mexico border in August. In Mexico, activity in several municipalities along the Guatemalan border drove a 67% increase in political violence in Chiapas state relative to the month prior. ACLED records several roadblocks coordinated by armed groups, as well as an ambush by alleged members of the CJNG that left at least six people dead in Chicomuselo municipality. The escalation of the violence comes amid an attempt by the CJNG to expand its control over drug and human trafficking routes across Chiapas and the border departments in Guatemala which have been traditionally controlled by the Sinaloa Cartel.⁸

Meanwhile, in Guatemala, violent actions involving groups linked with Mexican cartels were recorded in the Huehuetenango and San Marcos departments bordering Chiapas.⁹ Notably, in La Democracia municipality, Huehuetenango, an attack by criminal groups left six people dead, while another two people were killed in a clash between rival groups. Between January and August 2023, competition over the control of border areas contributed to a 71% increase in political violence in the Huehuetenango department compared to the same period in 2022.

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Haiti: Hundreds killed as gangs expand and residents resist

Fatalities stemming from gang activity surged across the country, doubling in August compared to the month prior, as gangs continued to contest new territory and crackdown on any signs of resistance. The Grand-Ravine gang launched an offensive to take control of the Carrefour-Feuilles neighborhood in Port-au-Prince on 5 August, which triggered a spike in fatalities in the commune compared to the month prior. The incursion led to clashes with police forces and attacks against residents, with gang members destroying houses, raping women, and killing over 80 people. Gang members also targeted local politicians and residents who they accused of supporting self-defense groups attempting to combat the gang.¹⁰ The expansion to Carrefour-Feuilles, located in the heights of Grand-Ravine’s stronghold in Martissant, would allow the gang to control routes that connect the capital to the south of the country and have a strategic advantage over rival gangs operating in the area.¹¹

Elsewhere in the Ouest department, the Kraze Baryè gang, led by notorious gangster Vitelhomme Innocent, has continued to target civilians in areas surrounding the United States embassy in Tabarre. In Croix des Bouquets commune, Canaan gang attacked members of an evangelical church that were marching against the gang’s operation in the area, which led to the killing of at least 50 people. The march followed a pastor’s speech urging parishioners to arm and defend themselves, prompting deadly retaliation from gang members. The rising lethality of gang violence comes amid a visit from Kenyan representatives to assess Haiti’s security situation ahead of the deployment of a United Nations-backed multinational security mission.¹² It also precedes a visit from delegates of the Caribbean Community to discuss solutions to Haiti’s political crisis.¹³

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Mexico: Conflicts between rival criminal groups drive heightened civilian targeting in Tierra Caliente

Organized crime group disputes over the control of the Tierra Caliente region – which encompasses municipalities in the Guerrero, Mexico, and Michoacán states – continue to drive heightened political violence levels in Guerrero and Michoacán. On 27 August, the CJNG clashed with Los Viagras – a group aligned with the Carteles Unidos (CU) criminal alliance – over the control of extortion and trafficking routes in several municipalities in the Tierra Caliente region in Michocán state. These clashes contributed to a 19% increase in political violence in the state compared to the month prior. As part of the conflict between these two groups, violence against civilians increased with attacks recorded in Apatzingan and Penjamillo municipalities by drones charged with explosives.¹⁴

Similarly, in Guerrero, La Familia Michoacana, also aligned with the CU, launched several drone attacks in Heliodoro Castillo municipalities bordering the Tierra Caliente region, killing at least one person. Violence targeting civilians in this state has increased since May 2023, with a 47% increase between January and August compared to the same period in 2022. Violence has been driven by the ongoing conflict between La Familia Michoacana and Los Tlacos, which has forced around 600 residents to leave the area.¹⁵

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