The coronavirus pandemic has placed extraordinary strain on governments – especially states which have historically faced difficulty in effectively controlling their territory. For this reason, among others, Latin America is swiftly becoming the global hotspot for coronavirus cases. Throughout this crisis, responses to this epidemic have come from an unusual source. Latin America’s narcotrafficers – typically agents of instability – are assuming the various responsibilities of the state from Colombia to Guatemala to Mexico. The curious trend says as much about state capacity in Latin America as it does about the gangs themselves.
An Unusual Source of Support
The most widely reported cases of gang activism during the Coronavirus epidemic are in Brazil’s favelas. There, criminal organizations have established curfews and other policies to halt the spread of Coronavirus. In the Cidade de Deus favela – made famous by the “City of God” movie and the favela where the first case of Coronavirus was confirmed – gang members have threatened residents with “corrective” action if they ignore gang imposed curfew hours. In another favela, Morro dos Prazeres, narco traffickers have prevented people from leaving their homes in groups of greater than two.
Gang activism in the favelas is not limited to restrictions on movement. In Santa Marta, favela gang members are handing out soap and leaving signs at the entrance of the favela to wash hands before entering – advice that is unlikely to be heeded given the lack of running water. Even though favela communities depend on income from so-called “slum tourists”, trafficking organizations in Rocinha and Vidigal are banning tourists from entering the communities. Although these policies are varied, they are happening in some form across Brazil’s favelas. Gangs also appear to be implementing these policies even when they hamper the sales of narcotics.
Criminal organizations are fulfilling the role of the state not only in Brazil but throughout Latin America. In the rural pacific regions of Colombia, FARC Dissidents – notably the 29th Front – are distributing pamphlets threatening fines and “military” consequences to those who defy quarantine orders. In addition to FARC Dissident groups, leftist militant group the ELN declared a month-long unilateral ceasefire because of the coronavirus outbreak. They stated their desire to open negotiations with the Colombian government, which has been a long term strategic aim. Across the border in Venezuela, pro government militant groups have been blocking roads to enforce government lockdown measures. These “Colectivos” announced government lockdown policies prior to public officials.
In some countries, narcotrafficking gangs are doing more than just enforcing quarantines; they have also been providing supplies and social services. Mexican gangs are providing economic support to communities that do not receive resources from the government. Cartels like the Jalisco Cartel New Generation and Los Viagras are handing out food packages branded by the faces of their leaders. Barrio 18, an international gang that operates in many central american countries, has halted extortion payments from small businesses to limit the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. Although not universally implemented, this is critical for businesses unable to operate due to lockdown restrictions. The Salvadorian subsidiaries of Barrio 18 are threatening violence against those who defy the quarantine policies of the government of El Salvador. MS-13 is doing the same.
The Strategic Motivation of Criminal Gangs
It is strange that criminal organisations are enforcing the laws of their respective states. Its is even stranger that they provide social support in cases where it harms their ability to generate revenue in the short term. The reason why gangs behave in this way is because they are considering their long term survival. As a vacuum of authority emerges in the wake of the global pandemic, nacrotraffickers have the opportunity to establish control over strategically important communities (Secretaría de Seguridad y Protección Ciudadana y el Centro Nacional de Inteligencia, “El Crimen Organizado Durante la Pandemia”). In the future, they may rely on those they helped for income and recruits. According to the Global Initiative on Organized Crime, communities during the Coronavirus outbreaks are often more likely to see gangs as reliable than the government. This is because gangs have a long term presence in neglected communities and a stronger incentive to protect them than politicians. Criminal gangs also realise that their foot soldiers are also members of the local populations. Health problems that threaten favela and slum dwellers in Brazil and El Salvador also threaten gang members.
The Limits of State Power
What is even more remarkable than gang support for government policy is that, in some countries, formal governments are recognizing and sometimes collaborating with gang efforts to limit the spread of coronavirus. The most extreme example of this behaviour is, perhaps unsurprisingly, Venezuela. There, the militant groups in question are overtly pro-government and are known to have informal ties to the Maduro regime. The fact that “collectivos” knew about government policy prior to its announcement suggests that the government is using militant groups to disseminate information. “Colectivos” have gone door to door in the 23 de Enero neighborhood of Caracas disseminating information about the lockdown policies. Even more overtly, public officials have called on armed civilians to impose quarantine restrictions in cooperation with the military.
In neighboring Brazil, a state with a less cooperative relationship with its narco-traffickers, the former Health Minister, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, told officials to coordinate with criminal groups in stopping the spread of the virus. He said, in a translated quote, “We have to understand that these are areas where the state is often absent and the ones in charge are drug traffickers”. Some governments recognise the de facto limits of their power to protect their whole populations, and others even have political connections to the criminal organisations themselves.
Gang facilitated pandemic relief speaks to a much deeper issue of neglect by states in Latin America, for which the coronavirus outbreak is only a flashpoint. When speaking of gang enforced coronavirus quarantine measures in Brazil’s favelas, Edmund Ruge – the editor of RioOnWatch, said that the curfew policies reflected the sustained neglect of the Brazilian state in those slums. Many favelas lack even basic sanitation infrastructure. The Colombian government lost control of its pacific regions long before FARC Dissidents began enforcing quarantine measures there. Mexico’s gangs operate in areas where people, for logistical and political reasons, receive very limited support from the state. The provision of social support is also not new – gangs have operated as quasi state organizations for a substantial period of time in many Latin American countries.
The Coronavirus outbreak, then, is a stress-test with horrifying stakes that reveals the extent of state failure in Latin America. Absent effective governance and facing a deadly crisis, local communities in the most neglected areas of South and Central America are turning to organizations that they view as more likely to save them than their governments. The narcotraffickers themselves are taking this as an opportunity to build power and influence in those communities for their long term strategic aim. This crisis reveals their true nature, not only as criminals, but as political agents.