Punishment, wars and extreme violence in Eastern Europe and Eurasia

A view from Latin America

Autores/as

  • Mónica Serrano El Colegio de México

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl.2946

Palabras clave:

Guerra, violencia, castigo, prisiones, drogas, derechos humanos

Resumen

Al reflexionar sobre el crimen y el castigo en Europa del Este y Eurasia, este artículo analiza las perspectivas desde América Latina. Comienza examinando las respuestas latinoamericanas a la guerra de Rusia contra Ucrania. El artículo pone de manifiesto la incapacidad de los Estados latinoamericanos para unirse en oposición a la invasión rusa. A continuación, reflexiona tanto sobre las lecciones que las prácticas informales de Europa del Este y Eurasia pueden aportar a América Latina como sobre la posible relevancia de las experiencias latinoamericanas para los países de Europa del Este. En su intento por identificar paralelismos entre estas regiones, el artículo presta especial atención a los legados coloniales. A continuación, el artículo se centra en las tendencias penitenciarias de ambas regiones y destaca el modelo de «maxiprisiones», cada vez más en boga en América Latina. A continuación, se ofrece un breve análisis del impacto de las economías neoliberales en las tendencias de corrupción y represión en ambas regiones. Los párrafos finales abordan cuestiones más amplias relacionadas con los derechos humanos en las regiones.

Descargas

Los datos de descargas todavía no están disponibles.

        Metrics

Estadísticas globales ℹ️

Totales acumulados desde su publicación
19
Visualizaciones
4
Descargas
23
Total
Descargas por formato:
16(5)_Serrano_OSLS (English) 4 XML_16(5)_Serrano_OSLS (English) 0

Biografía del autor/a

Mónica Serrano, El Colegio de México

Mónica Serrano is Professor of International Relations at El Colegio de México. She is also a member of the International Faculty of the Doctorate on Organised Crime at the University of Milan, an Associate Fellow of the International Institute for Strategic Studies IISS and a member of the Council of the United Nations University (UN University). She has published extensively on international security and Latin America, with particular reference to international institutions, regional security, human rights, transnational crime and civil-military relations. She currently serves on the editorial boards of Conflict, Security and Development, Global Responsibility to Protect and Foro Internacional. 

Citas

Abrams, R., et al., 2025. Did a U.S. boat strike amount to a war crime? The New York Times [online], 3 December. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/podcasts/the-daily/boat-strike-war-crime.html

Bâli, A., and Moyn, S., 2026. What should replace the American-led world order? The Guardian [online], 29 July. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/29/us-decline-world-order-replacement

Central Intelligence Agency, Directorate of Intelligence, 1984. Cuban prisons. 23 October 1984 [online]. Released 12 August 2008. Available at: https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP86M00886R001400120003-4.pdf;

Chávez, S., 2025. US Defence Secretary says US Monroe doctrine is stronger than ever. Financial Times [online], 7 December. Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/720bf98b-c35e-4af3-af93-43171d775645?syn-25a6b1a6=1

Freedman, L., 1992. Order and disorder in the new world. Foreign Affairs, 1 February. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/20045108

Freedman, L., 2022. Command. The politics of military operations from Korea to Ukraine. New York: Oxford University Press, 361.

García, C., 2022. La embajada de Ucrania pide a México una posición más firme en contra de Rusia. Expansión [online], 24 February. Available at: https://politica.expansion.mx/mexico/2022/02/24/embajada-de-ucrania-pide-a-mexico-mas-firmeza-contra-rusia

Hopgood, S., 2006. Keepers of the flame: Understanding Amnesty International. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Hopgood, S., 2013. The endtimes of human rights. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Igarapé Institute, 2019. Prison populism in the Americas [online]. 25 April. Available at: https://igarape.org.br/en/prison-populism-in-the-americas/

Kinstler, L., 2025. Are we witnessing the death of International Law? The Guardian [online], 26 June. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/law/2025/jun/26/are-we-witnessing-the-death-of-international-law

López Obrador, A. M., 2022. Versión estenográfica de la conferencia de prensa matutina del presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador [online]. 4 March. Available at: https://lopezobrador.org.mx/2022/03/04/version-estenografica-de-la-conferencia-de-prensa-matutina-del-presidente-andres-manuel-lopez-obrador-696/

López Obrador, A. M., 2025. México en el Consejo de Seguridad [online]. Misión Permanente de México ante la Organización de las Naciones Unidas. 3 March. https://mision.sre.gob.mx/onu/index.php/mexico-en-el-consejo-de-seguridad

Magaloni, B., and Díaz Calleros, A., 2025. Does the Bukele model have a future? El Salvador’s police state will soon face a reckoning. Foreign Affairs, 11 September.

Marcial Pérez, D., 2022. México se abstiene en la votación que expulsa a Rusia del Consejo de Derechos Humanos de la ONU. El País [online], 7 April. Available at: https://elpais.com/mexico/2022-04-07/mexico-se-abstiene-en-la-votacion-que-expulsa-a-rusia-del-consejo-de-derechos-humanos-de-la-onu.html

Misión Permanente de México ante la Organización de las Naciones Unidas, 2022. Statement delivered by Amb. Alicia Buenrostro Massieu at the briefing on the situation in Ukraine [online]. 21 February. Available at: https://mision.sre.gob.mx/onu/index.php/intervencionescsonu/1603-21-february-2022-statement-delivered-by-amb-alicia-buenrostro-massieu-at-the-briefing-on-the-situation-in-ukraine;

Muggah, R., 2026. The problem with Latin America’s prison boom. Americas Quarterly [online], 14 July. Available at: https://americasquarterly.org/article/problem-with-latin-americas-prison-boom/

Neier, A., 1988. In Cuban prisons. The New York Review of Books, 30 June.

Newton, C., Cavalari, M., and Bonello, D., 2026. Brazil’s new ‘terrorist’ groups – the PCC and the Red Command – Explained. InsightCrime [online], 29 May. Available at: https://insightcrime.org/news/brazil-terrorist-groups-pcc-red-command-explained/

Piacentini, L., and Slade, G., 2024. East is East? Beyond the Global North and Global South in criminology. The British Journal of Criminology [online], 64(3), 521-537. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azad048 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azad048

Redacción El Universal, 2022a. “Distensión, diplomacia y diálogo” pide México sobre Ucrania en el Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU. El Universal [online], 17 February. Available at: https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/mundo/rusia-ucrania-distension-diplomacia-y-dialogo-pide-mexico-en-consejo-de-seguridad-de-la-onu/

Redacción El Universal, 2022b. México sufrió invasiones de Francia y EU, por lo que tenemos que condenar enérgicamente el ataque a Ucrania: Ebrard. El Universal [online], 24 February. Available at: https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/mundo/mexico-condena-energicamente-invasion-rusa-ucrania-ebrard/

Redacción El Universal, 2022c. Nos satisface la respuesta de México. El Universal [online], 6 March. Available at: https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/mundo/rusia-ucrania-nos-satisface-la-respuesta-de-mexico/

Redacción El Universal, 2022d. “Vergüenza”, abstención de México sobre Rusia en Consejo de ONU. El Universal, 8 April.

Redacción El Universal, 2022e. Video: Qué dijo México en la ONU sobre el conflicto Rusia – Ucrania. El Universal [online], 21 February. Available at: https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/mundo/video-que-dijo-mexico-en-la-onu-sobre-el-conflicto-rusia-ucrania/

Redacción La Jornada, 2022. Instalan grupo de amistad México-Rusia de la Cámara de Diputados. La Jornada [online], 23 March. Available at: https://www.jornada.com.mx/noticia/2022/03/23/politica/instalan-grupo-de-amistad-mexico-rusia-de-la-camara-de-diputados-2393

Roberts, A., 2010. An “incredibly swift transition”: Reflections on the end of the Cold War. In: M. P. Leffler and O. A. Westad, eds., The Cambridge history of the Cold War. Cambridge University Press, 513-534. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521837217.025

Silva Santos, R., 2026. Up to 8,000 Latin Americans fighting in Russian army against Ukraine. The Rio Times [online], 14 May. Available at: https://www.riotimesonline.com/up-to-8000-latin-americans-fighting-in-russian-army-against-ukraine/

Snyder, T., 2022. The war in Ukraine is a colonial war. The New Yorker [online], 28 April. Available at: https://www.newyorker.com/news/essay/the-war-in-ukraine-is-a-colonial-war

Snyder, T., 2025. The big lie behind Trump’s boat strikes. The Project Syndicate [online], 31 October. Available at: https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/trump-big-lies-drug-boat-strikes-venezuela-by-timothy-snyder-2025-10

Stacey, D., 2026. Cuba and Colombia, the main recruitment hubs for the Russian army in Latin America. El País [online], 29 April. Available at: https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-04-29/cuba-and-colombia-the-main-recruitment-hubs-for-the-russian-army-in-latin-america.html;

Statement by the President of the Security Council, 6 May 2022 (S/PRST/2022/3) [online]. Available at: https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/s_prst_2022_3.pdf

The Economist, 2022. Sir Adam Roberts rebuffs the view that the West is principally responsible for the crisis in Ukraine. The Economist [online], 26 March. Available at: https://www.economist.com/by-invitation/2022/03/26/sir-adam-roberts-rebuffs-the-view-that-the-west-is-principally-responsible-for-the-crisis-in-ukraine

UN News, 2022. United Nations General Assembly votes to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council [online]. 7 April. Available at: https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/04/1115782

United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/ES-11/2 on Humanitarian consequences of aggression against Ukraine. 24 March 2022.

United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/HRC/RES/49-1, on the Situation of human rights in Ukraine stemming from the Russian aggression [online]. 7 March 2022. Available at: https://docs.un.org/en/a/hrc/res/49/1

United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/ES/11/3 on Suspension of the rights of membership of the Russian Federation [online]. 8 April 2022. Available at: https://docs.un.org/en/a/res/es-11/3

United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/ES-11/1 on aggression against Ukraine [online]. 2 March 2022. Available at: https://docs.un.org/en/A/ES-11/L.1/Add.1

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2025. Global prison population and trends A focus on rehabilitative environments [online]. July. Available at: https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/prison/Prison_brief_2025.pdf

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2026. Global prison population and trends. A focus on prison-community engagement [online]. July. Available at: https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/prison/Prison_Matters_2026.pdf

Walker, N., 2023. Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (2014 - eve of 2022 invasion) [online]. House of Commons Library, 22 August. Available at: https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9476/CBP-9476.pdf

Weller, M., 2026. President Trump may disregard international law – but other countries want to make use of it [online]. Chatham House, 14 January. Available at: https://www.chathamhouse.org/2026/01/president-trump-may-disregard-international-law-other-countries-want-make-use-it

Yordanov, R., 2020. Outfoxing the eagle: Soviet, East European and Cuban involvement in Nicaragua in the 1980s. Journal of Contemporary History [online], 55(4), 871-892. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0022009419860896 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0022009419860896

Publicado

01-10-2026

Cómo citar

Serrano, M. (2026) «Punishment, wars and extreme violence in Eastern Europe and Eurasia: A view from Latin America», Oñati Socio-Legal Series, 16(5), pp. 2144–2157. doi: 10.35295/osls.iisl.2946.