Environmental violence in Mexico is escalating, claiming the lives of dozens of land defenders each year — yet the crisis remains dangerously underreported. To understand the roots of this hidden war, we spoke with award-winning journalist, author, and Centre on Armed Groups Fellow, Dr. Anjan Sundaram, whose frontline reporting has spanned war zones from Central Africa to Latin America. Anjan unpacks the nexus between environmental conflict, organised crime, and international business interests — and explains why indigenous communities are increasingly taking up arms to protect ecosystems vital to our planet’s future.

In this working paper, Jorge Mantilla explores state-criminal cooperation in roadblock politics. His study discusses the way in which, between 2015 and 2023, the bilateral tensions and border closure between Colombia and Venezuela created a political economy of smuggling in which state officials delegated basic state functions to organised crime groups to contain foes, domesticate illegal economies, and maintain social control.

This paper argues that we should not see ‘political’ and ‘criminal’ groups as separate categories. Instead, we should envision a spectrum of motives and practices across all armed groups, regardless of how they are labelled.