News of crime

José Antonio Kast, Chile's most right-wing president since Pinochet, takes office

11-03-2026 12:02 José Antonio Kast's rise comes amid a conservative wave sweeping Latin America and after Trump's re-election in the United States.

Disappearance of Loan Danilo Peña

Trial into missing five-year-old’s disappearance in doubt

02-03-2026 18:42 First preliminary hearing exposes the scale of the proceedings over the disappearance of five-year-old Loan Danilo Peña in Corrientes in June 2024; Prosecutor Carlos calls for acceleration, questions limits put on his work; There are two parallel cases and 17 people indicted in all.

by Leonardo Nieva

POLITICS & CONGRESS

Congress votes to lower age of criminal responsibility to 14

27-02-2026 19:29 Milei and La Libertad Avanza notch up another legislative win in special Congress sessions; New juvenile penal regime will lower the age of criminal responsibility to 14, down from the present age of 16.

Crime & Security

‘All crimes in Buenos Aires have fallen,’ says City Mayor Macri

25-02-2026 12:32 Buenos Aires City mayor says his administration has taken “a political decision to enforce the law” and that, as a result, all crimes in the capital have decreased.

CRIME & INSECURITY

Crime down in capital: Murders, robberies, carjackings fall to historic lows in Buenos Aires

24-02-2026 18:42 Homicide rate dropped to 2.5 per 100,000 inhabitants last year, making Buenos Aires the second-safest capital in the Americas behind Ottawa, Canada.

by Federico Perez Vecchio

LETTER BOMB ATTACK

Three injured in letter bomb blast at school in Buenos Aires, say police

20-02-2026 16:19 Three people were injured Friday after a mail bomb exploded at the Superior Gendarmerie School in Buenos Aires.

POLITICS & CONGRESS

Lower house backs bill to lower age of criminal responsibility

12-02-2026 21:28 Deputies approve lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 14 with 149 votes in favour, 100 against; Bill supported by La Libertad Avanza, UCR, PRO, Provincias Unidas and other deputies.

Rosario unrest

Rosario police end revolt over pay, mental health demands

11-02-2026 17:14 Dozens of police officers stage protest demanding higher salaries and improved mental health care in crime-it Rosario; Officers initially sanctioned, but punishments later withdrawn; Pay offer ends dispute.

Police rebellion

Police protest in Rosario over salary demands, mental health care

11-02-2026 17:05 Dozens of police officers stage protest demanding higher salaries and improved mental health care in Rosario; Officers initially sanctioned, but punishments later withdrawn.

Murder of Cecilia Strzyzowski

Life sentences for 'Clan Sena,' the killers of Cecilia Strzyzowski

10-02-2026 10:51 Chaco court sentences Cecilia Strzyzowski’s husband and his politically connected parents to life imprisonment for her femicide; Case sparked nationwide outrage after the 28-year-old disappeared in June 2023.

CRIME & SECURITY

Peru agrees to extradite main suspect in triple homicide case

03-02-2026 23:17 Peruvian government greenlights transfer of Tony 'Pequeño J' Janzen Valverde Victoriano, who will face trial in Argentina for the brutal murder of three young girls in Greater Buenos Aires last September.

POLITICS, JUSTICE & CONGRESS

Push to lower age of criminal responsibility set for Congress kick-off

30-01-2026 09:47 President Javier Milei’s government will seek to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 13 or 14 during extraordinary sessions of Congress, reviving a long-running debate over juvenile crime and punishment.

POLITICS & JUSTICE

What’s in Milei's bill to lower the age of criminal responsibility?

28-01-2026 22:54 Argentina’s government wants to transform the country's specialised penal regime for minors. Here's how.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Lowering age of criminal responsibility – is Argentina legislating in mood of violent emotion?

28-01-2026 15:56 Is the Milei government's bill "political opportunism," a distraction or the handing down of real consequences to those who commit crime?

by Barbara Komarovsky

POLITICS & CONGRESS

Catholic Church rejects Milei bill to lower age of criminal responsibility

28-01-2026 15:07 Ecclesiastical authorities issue statement criticising bid to amend youth criminal regime; Church demands "profound changes" from government, decries lack of consultation with experts.

CRIME & SECURITY

Mar del Plata: Man in arrested for hitting vehicle in President Milei's motorcade

28-01-2026 10:41 Man arrested after striking one of the vehicles in President Javier Milei's motorcade in the city of Mar del Plata.

CRIME & INSECURITY

Argentina’s prison population hits new high amid chronic overcrowding

26-01-2026 19:21 Prison population grew 7.1% in 2024, with property crimes and short sentences driving overcrowding; Five provinces exceed the national incarceration average, authorities warn that tougher laws and short sentences are fuelling sustained rise in numbers.

CRIME & SECURITY

Milei government renews push to lower age of criminal responsibility

26-01-2026 18:07 President Javier Milei’s government will seek to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 13 or 14 during extraordinary sessions of Congress, reviving a long-running debate over juvenile crime and punishment.

CRIME & INSECURITY

Homicides down 5% from last year, robberies drop to lowest in recent history

22-01-2026 18:06 Argentina’s Security Ministry presents preliminary data showing a sustained decline of homicide rate and a more than 20% drop in robberies nationwide over past year.

OPINION & ANALYSIS

US immigration enforcement turns problem of scale into personal violence

20-01-2026 14:21 Treating a person as the embodiment of a massive systemic failure is not law enforcement. It is moral outsourcing.

CRIME: Robbery that stunned a nation

Argentina remembers the ‘Heist of the Century,’ 20 years on

13-01-2026 12:01 Two decades ago, a criminal gang entered a branch of Banco Río in San Isidro, taking 23 people hostage. In a daring operation involving underground tunnels, inflatable rafts and fake weapons, they managed to outwit 300 police officers and escape – albeit temporarily – with bagfuls of cash and jewellery. Twenty years on, only around US$1.5 million has ever been recovered, with the fate of the rest of haul unknown.

Crime & Security

Death of 45-year-old in Villa 20 triggers police inquiry, investigation

26-12-2025 23:32 Gabriel González, 45, died in reported clash between police and residents; Authorities launch judicial and internal investigations amid family allegations of excessive use of force.

CRIME & SECURITY

Crime ranking shows ‘security incidents’ up 20% in Argentina last year

22-12-2025 13:47 National report by private Verisure firm shows 20 percent increase in “security incidents” over past 12 months; Province of Tucumán leads crime ranking with 65% surge, with sustained growth in Córdoba, Mendoza and the Atlantic coast.

LATIN AMERCIAN POLITICS

Milei embraces Chile's president-elect Kast, cementing right-wing alliance

17-12-2025 10:14 Argentina's president is eagerly embracing José Antonio Kast as another partner in a right-wing project he sees himself as commanding across the region.

ANALYSIS

Chile follows Latin American neighbours in lurching right

16-12-2025 07:49 Leftist leaders have not won a single presidential election in Latin America this year as voters opt for change.

CHILE ELECTION 2025

President-elect Kast faces hard choices as Chile enters new era

15-12-2025 16:12 Chile's hard-right president-elect José Antonio Kast will inherit a stalled economy, high crime rates and a fractured Congress.

CHILE ELECTION 2025

Chile shifts right as Pinochet fan Kast wins election run-off by landslide

15-12-2025 15:32 Voters elected José Antonio Kast, the most right-wing president in 35 years of Chilean democracy, with a thumping 58 percent of vote in run-off against Jeannette Jara.

POLITICS & CORRUPTION

Senator-elect accused of US drug arrest gives up battle for seat

03-12-2025 12:57 La Libertad Avanza national deputy Lorena Villaverde says she has “no ongoing criminal cases either in Argentina or in the United States” against her but says she will resign the Senate seat she won in October to stay in the lower house.

MISSING CHILD

Court merges Loan Peña casefiles, paving way for 17 defendants to stand trial

26-11-2025 10:22 Unification clears procedural challenges as 17 defendants move toward oral trial over disappearance of five-year-old in June 2024; Seven accused of abduction and concealment of boy, another 10 face other charges.

ANALYSIS

Crime, economic woes push South American voters to right

18-11-2025 15:36 Reasons why South Americans are electing right-wing candidates this year differ in each country, but they’re all driving the region in the same political direction.

CHILE ELECTION 2025

A pragmatic communist and a far-right leader: Chile's presidential finalists

17-11-2025 12:22 Leftist candidate Jeannette Jara and far-right leader José Antonio Kast will go head-to-head in Chile's presidential run-off next month.

CHILE ELECTION 2025

Three takeaways from Chile's election

17-11-2025 12:16 With the sum of the votes cast on the right more than doubling those on the left, José Antonio Kast can expect to dramatically expand his vote in the second round.

CHILE ELECTION 2025

Leftist, far-right candidates advance to Chilean presidential run-off

17-11-2025 12:13 Chile's leftist former labour minister Jeannette Jara and far-right leader José Antonio Kast will go head-to-head in a presidential run-off after topping Sunday's first round of voting in an election dominated by violent crime.

Politics in Peru

Peru's interim leader José Jerí embraces the spotlight in 'war' on crime

13-11-2025 14:41 José Jerí, the media-savvy millennial president of Peru, is taking steps to tackle the nation's escalating insecurity crisis and says he's determined to restore order.

CHILE ELECTION 2025

A Communist, YouTuber or Pinochet fan? Chile's presidential candidates

11-11-2025 22:46 Eight candidates are competing in Sunday's first round of voting for one of two spots in December's run-off – here's a look at the four leading the polls.

CHILE ELECTION 2025

Calls for 'mano dura' as crime-rattled Chile votes for president

11-11-2025 21:11 Illegal migration is a central issue in Chile's election campaign, with a majority of citizens linking a rise in crime to the migration wave; Left-winger Jeannette Jara is leading the polls, but would likely be defeated in a potential run-off against Pinochet cheerleader José Antonio Kast.

Chile's Security Crisis

Pining for Pinochet: how crime fanned nostalgia for Chile's dictator

04-11-2025 18:40 As crime rates increase in Chile, public anxiety grows and demands for stronger security measures continue.

CRIME IN RIO

Locals line up dozens of bodies after deadly police operation in Rio

29-10-2025 14:23 Residents accuse police of massacre after anti-gang raid leaves more than 130 dead in Rio de Janeiro.

DEATH OF CECILIA STRZYZOWSKI

Jury trial for Chaco femicide that rattled regional politics begins

27-10-2025 18:26 Investigation into the disappearance and presumed murder of 28-year-old Cecilia Strzyzowski is now being heard before a jury in Resistencia; Young woman’s death highlights links between politics and the powerful “Clan Sena” family in northern Chaco province.

Political crisis in Peru

Generation Z leads Peru’s protests for change

21-10-2025 14:48 After decades of instability and political turmoil, Peru’s youth demands change through organised protests.

DEATH OF LIAM PAYNE: ONE YEAR ON

Fans in Buenos Aires remember late singer Liam Payne, one year on from death

16-10-2025 19:45 Fans of late One Direction singer, who passed away one year ago, descend on the hotel in Palermo where he lost his life.

PRISONS & JAIL

Prison population in Argentina’s federal jails rises 3% in two months

16-10-2025 14:23 Number of inmates held in federal prisons rose 3.2 percent in September from December 2024, according to new data from the Attorney General’s Office.

GENDER VIOLENCE

NGO: Eleven femicides already this month, with half of October still to go

16-10-2025 13:42 Feminist organisation MuMaLá has recorded195 femicides so far this year – one every 35 hours.

CRIME & SECURITY

Body of missing young woman found in a pit at home in small Chaco town

14-10-2025 11:21 Thirty-three-year-old male arrested on suspicion of murder; Remains of Gabriela Arací Barrios, who had been missing since last Sunday, discovered buried in cement-topped cesspit in a back yard of house.

TRIPLE MURDER

Triple murder probe: Most suspects now in custody, prosecutor says

09-10-2025 15:16 Testimony from one detinee helps “clarify role of suspects”; Police report reveals alleged ringleader “Pequeño J” entered country from Uruguay in late August.

Crime & Security

Judge in Peru rules key suspect in Argentina triple murder be detained

04-10-2025 08:39 Judge in Peru rules alleged mastermind behind brutal triple killing in Buenos Aires linked to narco-trafficking must remain in prison during extradition proceedings.

POLITICS

Milei unveils ‘zero tolerance’ Penal Code reform push at prison

02-10-2025 20:28 President Javier Milei and National Security Minister Patricia Bullrich say criminals “must face consequences” as they present criminal reform package at door of Ezeiza Prison.

ECUADOR CRIME VS FOOTBALL

Hitmen, mafias, match-fixing – cartels turning Ecuador’s football into a killing field

01-10-2025 19:14 A wave of assassinations tied to illicit betting has left Ecuador’s footballers living in fear, as powerful cartels infiltrate clubs, launder money and threaten players to throw matches.

CRIME & SECURITY

Extradition sought for suspected mastermind of triple murder

01-10-2025 11:05 Suspected gang leader behind last week’s brutal triple murder in Argentina arrested in Peru after international manhunt; Accused of ordering the torture and murder of three young women, 'Pequeño J' is at centre of chilling case tied to drug violence.