These five countries are exhausted by watching organized crime kill our young people
Em Santiago, cinco nações sul-americanas formalizaram o que os governos isolados não conseguiram alcançar sozinhos: um pacto vinculante para enfrentar o crime organizado transnacional que atravessa fronteiras, corrói instituições e ceifa vidas jovens. O Compromisso de Santiago reúne Argentina, Bolívia, Chile, Equador e Peru em torno de planos de ação conjuntos, compartilhamento de inteligência e revisões periódicas — reconhecendo que redes criminosas operam sem respeito por soberanias nacionais, e que a resposta, portanto, também não pode ser apenas nacional. É um momento em que a exaustão coletiva diante da violência se transforma, ao menos formalmente, em vontade política compartilhada.
- O crime organizado avança sem fronteiras: Peru registrou 196 homicídios só em fevereiro, e o Equador já opera em conjunto com os Estados Unidos contra grupos classificados como organizações terroristas.
- Cada país vinha agindo de forma isolada — acordos bilaterais aqui, operações domésticas ali — enquanto as redes criminosas continuavam se expandindo de forma coordenada e transnacional.
- O Compromisso de Santiago rompe esse padrão ao estabelecer obrigações formais: planos de ação conjuntos, troca sistemática de inteligência e um prazo de 180 dias para avaliação de progresso.
- O acordo será apresentado à Assembleia Geral da OEA com o objetivo de ampliar a coalizão para toda a América, transformando um pacto regional em uma resposta hemisférica.
- A iniciativa surge em meio a pressões internas: o Chile enfrenta críticas por atrasos na sua estratégia nacional de segurança, e a crise de violência já molda as eleições presidenciais no Peru.
Na quinta-feira, os chanceleres de Argentina, Bolívia, Chile, Equador e Peru se reuniram em Santiago para assinar um acordo regional vinculante contra o crime organizado transnacional. O Compromisso de Santiago nasce do reconhecimento compartilhado de que organizações criminosas — que traficam drogas, corrompem instituições e dominam bairros inteiros — operam sem respeito por fronteiras nacionais, e que nenhum país consegue contê-las agindo sozinho.
O presidente chileno José Antonio Kast, presente em parte da cúpula, foi direto: 'Estes cinco países estão exaustos de ver o crime organizado matar nossos jovens, tomar nossos bairros e corromper nossas instituições.' O chanceler chileno Francisco Pérez Mackenna detalhou a lógica do pacto — a ameaça é regional, portanto a resposta precisa ser regional, com cooperação política aprofundada e compartilhamento sistemático de inteligência.
Os signatários se comprometeram a desenvolver planos de ação conjuntos e a se reunir novamente em 180 dias para avaliar os avanços. Os resultados serão apresentados à Assembleia Geral da OEA, com o objetivo de expandir a iniciativa para outros países do hemisfério.
A urgência do acordo é respaldada por números concretos: o Peru registrou 196 homicídios em fevereiro, tornando a segurança pública tema central das eleições presidenciais. O Equador conduz operações conjuntas com os Estados Unidos contra grupos criminosos designados como organizações terroristas. A Argentina segue caminho semelhante com acordos bilaterais próprios. O Compromisso de Santiago é a tentativa de unir esses esforços dispersos em uma resposta verdadeiramente coletiva — ainda que sua eficácia dependa do que vier nos próximos 180 dias.
Five foreign ministers and senior security officials gathered in Santiago on Thursday to sign a binding regional agreement aimed at coordinating their countries' response to organized crime, drug trafficking, and irregular migration. The nations involved—Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru—have each watched criminal organizations metastasize across their borders, destabilizing neighborhoods, corrupting institutions, and claiming young lives at an accelerating pace. The meeting produced the Santiago Commitment Against Transnational Organized Crime, a formal pact that commits the signatories to develop joint action plans, share intelligence, and coordinate enforcement efforts across the region's porous boundaries.
Chilean President José Antonio Kast, who attended portions of the summit, framed the agreement as a turning point. "This is a starting point for something that concerns all of us," he said. "At minimum, we can say these five countries are exhausted by watching organized crime kill our young people, take over our neighborhoods, and corrupt our institutions." The language was direct, almost defiant—a public acknowledgment that national governments, working alone, have been losing ground to criminal networks that operate without regard for borders.
Chile's Foreign Minister, Francisco Pérez Mackenna, articulated the core logic behind the pact. Organized crime, he explained, has become one of the region's defining security threats, destabilizing governance, threatening individual safety, and undermining institutional stability and economic development. Because these criminal organizations operate across borders, he noted, individual countries cannot contain them through domestic action alone. The agreement therefore establishes a framework for deeper political cooperation and systematic information sharing—the infrastructure, in other words, for a genuinely regional response.
The formal signatories were the foreign ministers of each nation: Pablo Quirno of Argentina, Fernando Aramayo of Bolivia, Carlos Pareja of Peru, Gabriela Sommerfeld of Ecuador, and Pérez Mackenna representing Chile. They committed to reconvene in 180 days to assess progress and determine next steps. The results will then be presented to the Organization of American States General Assembly, with the explicit goal of recruiting additional countries across the hemisphere to join the initiative.
The timing of the agreement is significant, though not without irony. Chile's government has faced sustained criticism for failing to deliver on its campaign promise of a comprehensive national security strategy. That failure contributed to the resignation of Trinidad Steinert, the Public Security Minister, less than three months into her tenure. The current security minister, Martín Arraú, who participated in the Santiago summit, has argued that a six-year national security policy framework is already in place and sufficient to guide implementation of specific programs and enforcement actions. Whether that framework will prove adequate remains an open question.
Across the region, the scale of the crisis is undeniable. Peru recorded 196 homicides in February alone, a figure that has made public safety a decisive issue in the country's upcoming presidential elections. Ecuador has launched joint operations with the United States to dismantle criminal groups designated as terrorist organizations. Argentina has pursued similar bilateral agreements with Washington. Each country is acting, but largely in isolation. The Santiago Commitment represents an attempt to break that pattern—to acknowledge that the threat is regional, that it requires regional solutions, and that no single nation can solve it alone.
Citas Notables
Organized crime has become one of the region's defining security threats, destabilizing governance and undermining institutional stability. Because these criminal organizations operate across borders, individual countries cannot contain them through domestic action alone.— Chilean Foreign Minister Francisco Pérez Mackenna
This is a starting point for something that concerns all of us. At minimum, we can say these five countries are exhausted by watching organized crime kill our young people, take over our neighborhoods, and corrupt our institutions.— Chilean President José Antonio Kast
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why did it take until now for these five countries to formalize something like this? They share borders, they share the same criminal networks.
Because organizing five governments around a single agreement is harder than it sounds. Each country has its own political pressures, its own security priorities, its own relationships with the United States. But the crisis has become undeniable. When Peru is recording nearly 200 homicides a month, when neighborhoods are being taken over, when young people are being recruited into criminal organizations—governments have to act.
The agreement mentions a 180-day review. What does that actually mean? Is there enforcement?
It means they're committing to check in, to report on what they've done, to share what they've learned. Whether there's real enforcement—whether one country can pressure another to follow through—that's less clear. These are sovereign nations. But the fact that they're building in accountability mechanisms suggests they're serious about this being more than symbolic.
You mentioned the irony about Chile's government. They're hosting this summit on regional security while facing criticism for not having their own security plan.
Exactly. Kast came to power promising a comprehensive security strategy and hasn't delivered one. So there's a question about whether Chile can credibly lead on this regional initiative when it hasn't solved its own problems. But maybe that's also why the regional approach matters—no single country has the answer, so they have to work together.
What about the United States? Ecuador and Argentina are already working with Washington on this.
The U.S. is involved bilaterally, but this agreement is different. It's the five countries saying to each other: we need to coordinate among ourselves first, share information, develop joint strategies. Then they'll bring it to the OAS and invite other countries in. It's a South American-led initiative, not something Washington is driving.
And if it works?
Then you have a regional intelligence network, coordinated enforcement operations, and countries actually learning from each other instead of working in silos. If it doesn't, you have five countries that tried and failed, and the criminal organizations keep expanding.