The trafficking of arms presents complex challenges to the authorities in Latin America and the Caribbean, but a recent report finding the fight against these problems does not require long periods or many resources.
THE reportWritten by the Organization of American States (OEA), a regional organization designed to promote cooperation between nations, used qualitative methods to determine the most priority challenges faced by the authorities in the Americas when they deal with illicit weapon flows.
Part of a broader initiative of the OUE called “the hemispherical study on the illicit trafficking of firearms and ammunition”, the study was undertaken in response to the major threat that illicit weapons continue to place in the region. The violence between criminal groups in Latin America and the Caribbean is fueled by these weapons, which often come from the United States, leading to soap-in-murder. Caribbean And Mexican Officials have repeatedly urged US officials to do more to fight the problem.
See also: 4 points to remember from the CARICOM Firearm Weapons Report
The study involved questions and interviews of more than 20 experts in arms trafficking, mainly Americas. Experts – whose majority had more than 10 years of experience in the field – were invited to identify what they consider as the biggest obstacles to effectively prevent illegal weapon flows.
He then compiled these answers in 39 concrete challenges, “high priority”. These included, for example, “insufficient or inadequate data and the exchange of information between the various state agencies” and “an inadequate process for the authorization of private security companies which use firearms”.
Many of the challenges mentioned by experts have equaled the recent coverage of arms trafficking by Insight Crime. In Ecuador, inconsistencies in data collection between the various government agencies have inhibited Precise information on the extent of the problem of illegal weapons. In the meantime, in countries like Honduras And ColombiaThe legitimacy provided by private security companies facilitates the access of criminal groups to arms.
“The growth of private security companies in the region is worrying because the reality is that no state really has the capacity to monitor these firearms,” said Global Cecilia Farfán-Méndez, head of the North American observatory, told Insight Crime.
See also: How the Ecuador criminals take advantage of private security companies
While nations in the region have struggled to combat the problem of illicit weapons, the results of the OEA study are “positive” for the nations of the Americas, say the authors. Indeed, the solutions to many of the challenges presented by experts require a “low investment in resources” and are “capable of being implemented in the medium term”, concluded the study.
“We show here that … everything related to firearms traffic does not require this massive investment,” said Farfán-Méndez.
To support this observation, the authors organized the 13 most priority challenges identified by experts in a matrix. On an axis, they organized challenges according to the investment in resources necessary to resolve them. On the other hand, the authors said if they thought that solutions could be obtained short, medium or long term.
Short -term challenges and with low resource content included the lack of coordination between the different branches of the government and the strengthening of gaps in the legislation on firearms. However, other challenges require more time and resources to fight, such as the lack of physical infrastructure in land and land borders and the unauthorized manufacturing of weapons and ammunition.
The report prevents from digging in the roots of these challenges and which prevents their implementation. According to Farfán-Méndez, this requires more research in the future.
“The next step is to understand why these challenges – for example, insufficient coordination – exist in the first place,” she told Insight Crime.
Featured image: the handguns seized on the way to the Caribbean are displayed in Miami after an operation to apply American law in 2022. Source: Giorgio Viera / Getty Images
