DISEC: Organized Crime

Written by Rachel Jung of Inkling for UWCSEA MUN.
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Organized crime runs rampantly in most parts of Latin America, causing innumerable deaths and acts of violence. So much so that Honduras is named “the murder capital of the world” and where 90 people out of 100,000 are killed annually. The activities of organized crime gangs are not limited to just murder and assault; they also participate in numerous forms of trafficking, with their goods ranging from drugs to people. Coupled with these gangs taking advantage of the high corruption of police forces, organized crime remains a very formidable presence in Latin America.
 
Youth also find themselves turning to gangs in order to obtain a source of income. Fueled by a lack of access to education, youth believe that there is no alternative occupation for them;thus, beginning a life of crime and providing gangs with fresh recruits for their battles.
 
Some Latin American countries, such as Mexico, are already fighting hard to decrease the presence of organized crime in their country, but to no avail. Others, such as Brazil and Guatemala, have too much corruption within their government to effectively address and solve the problem.
 
The Disarmament and International Security committee gathered here today in an attempt to form a resolution that addresses the serious issue in Latin America. The clauses in their resolution covered topics from how legalization of marijuana would affect the profiteering of gangs to how providing higher wages to workers in public sectors would affect the level of corruption prevalent in the police and the government and more. They also debated on the details present in the resolution.

 The United States of America, for example, wanted to amend Clause 4 and make it so that the provision of funds and installation of infrastructure did not rest solely on the more economically stable countries; it would instead be shouldered by all countries, proportionately relative to economic and financial stability. Thereby, turning the reformation and disassembling of organized crime gangs into a global effort rather than a task designated to a select portion of the world.
 
“The United States definitely does not want to fund any of these projects by itself,” Jack, the delegate of Nicaragua, says. “So it keeps adding amendments… that change wording from ‘developed countries’ or ‘MEDCs’ to organizations that involve multiple different nations of varying financial power.”
 
There were many points that seemed controversial among the attending companies, such as who would fund the projects the resolution proposed and whether LEDCs were able to even contribute. However, most of the participating countries’ aims were to continue the security of the nation and to bring overall stability and peace to Latin America. So, through amendments and other proposed alternatives, agreements were reached, and eventually the resolution was passed.

“I’m quite happy with the final version of the resolution. There were a couple little bumps along the way… But in the end… we were able to reach an agreement,” Ryan, the delegate of Germany, says.
 
He continues, “A lot of countries and their representatives will have very different views on all of these laws. And a difficult part about making a pass for resolution is that you need to have a sense of what everyone wants in order to pass anything that you want.”