Organized Crime in Mesoamerica and the Caribbean: Legacy of Pirates, Smugglers and Bandits

Abstract

Organized crime appears as a recurrent phenomenon in the actual social conditions of the world order. It exhibits different expressions, from extremely violent configurations to highly refined forms. This means that the approach toward criminal organizations requires different perspectives. This determines the importance of the concept of organized crime, and, in this regard, this paper intends to address this framework, and deal with it based on the characteristics that criminal organizations share. It also examines the way the legal concept of organized crime has evolved in El Salvador, and the problematic aspects of interpretation present in the conceptual framework that has defined it, from the perspective of the creation of the concept of organized crime in the Criminal Code, to the most recent laws that affect this phenomenon such as the Law Prohibiting Gangs, Groups, A Association and Organizations of a Criminal Nature.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5377/rpsp.v2i0.1191