Scaling Up and Down Truces and Negotiations with Criminal Actors

• In Event: The Politics of Confronting Criminal Violence

Abstract

In recent years, public discussions about the pertinence and effectiveness of negotiating with criminal actors that do not have political intentions of controlling governments, have increased, largely motivated by the experiment of a gang truce in El Salvador. While the idea of negotiating with criminals is fraught with political difficulties, some forms of pact or dialogue are more common than often thought, especially at the local level. These localized forms of negotiation, often brokered by civil society actors, tend to be short lived and unstable, yet bring a sense of agency to communities, and sometimes are successful in mitigating some impacts of armed confrontation between armed groups like gangs. Conversely, national level efforts are more complicated and exposed to many legal and political challenges, yet, if they evolve under the right conditions, they can generate substantial violence reduction. Yet, such reductions are fragile if the processes are not grounded at the local level. This paper explores the difficulties of scaling down and scaling up efforts for brokering “peace”, comparing local truces mediated by civilian actors in cities in Colombia, Mexico, and Central America, drawing on analysis of interviews and press reports. The paper connects to debates about the aggregation of local and national level outcomes, as well as to literature on criminal violence and peace negotiations.

Author

• Angelica Duran-Martinez, University of Massachusetts, Lowell