Mediation with Non-conventional Armed Groups? Experiences from Latin America

Understanding the nature of contemporary armed violence as a violence presented not only in the conflicts between states, but also established by armed non-state actors with multiple motivations and agendas, this Policy Brief evaluates the emergence of gangs, drug trafficking organizations and small criminal groups operating in pockets of fragility in urban or rural areas of Latin American states. The aim is to reveal the limits of mediation and conflict resolution in dealing with diffuse agendas, once established the competitive or cooperative relationship between these groups and state agents. In “Mediation with Non-conventional Armed Groups? Experiences from Latin America”, Mabel González Bustelo evaluates examples of mediation efforts engendered with criminal actors in Latin America. Aware of the multiple forms that mediation and dialogue take in this context, Bustelo deeply analyzes the experiences in Honduras, Colombia and Mexico.