REEXAMINING THE ARAGUA TRAIN AND ITS EXPANSION IN LATIN AMERICA

Abstract

This study is a review of the book “El Tren de Aragua: La banda que Revolucionó el Crimen Organizado en América Latina”, published in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, in 2023. The book addresses how criminal factions like Tren de Aragua have demonstrated increasing sophistication and internationalization, operating across multiple countries and exploiting contexts of state fragility to expand their networks of trafficking, extortion, and territorial control. Written by journalist and researcher Ronna Rísquez, it employs a qualitative methodology, including extensive documentary analysis and structured interviews, to explore the rise of one of Venezuela's most powerful criminal organizations and its internationalization in Latin America. Tren de Aragua, originating from Venezuelan prisons, has expanded its activities beyond borders, influencing countries such as Colombia, Brazil, Chile, and the United States. The book reveals that the organization represents a symptom of Venezuela's state collapse, as it exploits social, economic, and institutional vulnerabilities in various countries, demonstrating strategic integration with organized crime through territorial control and exploitation. It concludes that the work is a landmark in the literature on Venezuelan organized crime, exposing the social and political consequences of Venezuela's state collapse.