On the Radar: Brazil’s Anti-Crime Push, an Arrest in Honduras, and Colombia’s Total Peace Gamble

This week in On the Radar, Brazil has a new, multibillion-dollar strategy against organized crime, Honduras arrests a former mayor connected to a murder, and Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro is told no after trying to suspend warrants for Gulf Clan leaders.

Transcript

What’s in Brazil’s President Lula’s new anti-crime push?

How does the arrest of a former Honduran mayor connect with the killing of a prominent activist?

And why is Colombia flip-flopping on warrants for the arrests of alleged traffickers?

Brazil unveils new anti-organized crime plan.

First, we head to Brazil, where President Lula da Silva unveiled a major anti-crime plan that would direct some $2 billion toward strengthening state-level security forces, and hundreds of millions more for federal ops.

The strategy focuses on dismantling criminal finances, tightening prison security, solving more murders, and combatting arms trafficking.

But if a divergence from merely arresting and killing “bad” guys is welcome, the federal government faces tough restrictions when combatting organized crime. The constitution puts security in the hands of each state, with federal forces prohibited from acting without local permission. As such, the federal government’s hands are tied when it comes to many crucial reforms.

Honduras arrests a mayor, Adán Fúnez, in connection to a murder

In Honduras, former Tocoa mayor Adán Fúnez was arrested in connection with the 2024 assassination of environmental activist Juan Antonio López.

López had become a prominent voice opposing extractive projects he said were secured through corruption and irregular deals. Before his murder, he publicly called for Fúnez’s resignation after InSight Crime revealed footage allegedly linking political figures and drug traffickers to discussions about financing the ruling party.

The case underscores the risks faced by environmental defenders in parts of Latin America where criminal interests, political power, and economic projects increasingly overlap.

Colombia mulls Gulf Clan arrest warrants

And in Colombia, the High Commissioner for Peace’s Office requested the suspension of arrest warrants for top leaders of the Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, better known as the Gulf Clan.

The move is part of Petro’s struggling Total Peace strategy, which aims to negotiate reductions in violence with armed and criminal groups ahead of next year’s elections.
But prosecutors rejected the request, saying they won’t suspend the warrants until they see evidence of progress in the talks.. Critics also point to the contradiction of suspending warrants for figures like Jobanis de Jesús Ávila Villadiego, alias “Chiquito Malo”, while the United States continues seeking extraditions.

The episode captures the growing tension at the heart of Total Peace: how far can the government negotiate with criminal actors before it risks strengthening them politically and legally?

For more analysis and investigation around the groups and countries in today’s dispatch, visit InSight Crime.