From Ideological Conflict to Criminal Control in the Americas

July 2026 American Committee

Political violence in the Americas has undergone a profound transformation in recent years, moving away from the armed ideological conflicts of the twentieth century toward a more diffuse and lethal form of “political-criminal violence.” Today, this phenomenon manifests not only through state repression under authoritarian regimes, but also through the infiltration of democracies via the capture of institutions by organized crime. This evolution poses an existential challenge to regional governance, where the territorial control of illicit groups often dictates who can participate in public life and who is silenced.
For the International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY), a decisive factor in this landscape is the interference of drug trafficking and illegal economies in electoral processes. In countries such as Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela, and rural areas of Colombia, criminal gangs resort to the assassination of local candidates, extortion, and threats to secure protection for their routes and operations. This dynamic has created a form of “democracy under fire,” in which the physical safety of community leaders and political actors depends on their relationship with—or resistance to—non-state actors that often possess greater firepower than local security forces.
Extreme polarization and the use of hate speech also act as catalysts for violence. Social fragmentation, exacerbated by disinformation campaigns on social media, has eroded institutional trust and normalized aggression against political opponents. In this context, violence is no longer only physical but also digital and symbolic, targeting especially women and minorities seeking access to positions of power. The result is self-censorship and a rollback of hard-won gains in political representation achieved over previous decades.
Moreover, the region is confronting a crisis of democratic erosion from within. In several countries, elected leaders have used state mechanisms to judicially persecute the opposition and dismantle institutional checks and balances. This form of “institutional violence” translates into arbitrary detentions, political disqualifications, and the use of armed forces for partisan purposes, generating a cycle of instability that pushes thousands of citizens into forced migration as they lose hope in a peaceful and democratic solution within their own borders.
Finally, IUSY observes with deep concern the outlook for 2026, given the consolidation of political violence as one of the principal threats to the economic and social development of the Americas.