A pesar de mucho discurso, del esfuerzo y la promulgacion de mecanismos multilaterales y domesticos, la falta de voluntad politica, la carencia de cooperacion en la investigacion y la ausencia de enjuiciamiento o extradicion de dichos grupos, han provocado que se enfrente hoy una situacion donde el crimen organizado resulta abrumador para las democracias del continente y es el sosten principal de muchas economias locales en la region.

While polygamy. is illegal in the United States, forms of it are still practiced either overtly, pursuant to religious traditions, or covertly, by the maintenance of two or more family units. As a result, any claims, disputes, or abuses that arise in the context of de facto polygamous unions remain irremediable. My focus, in this Article, is not to advocate that polygamy should be legally recognized. Nor is it my purpose to debate the viability or of polygamy. Instead, I am concerned with affording legal remedies for vulnerable individuals living and operating in de facto polygamous unions. In light of the thousands of individuals living in some form of multi-party unions, I propose that it is imperative to construct adequate legal options remedies for the parties involved in these unions. In this Article, I evaluate how a women-centric interpretation of the Qur'anic treatment of Islamic polygamy might help us assess how to best protect American women involved in de facto polygamous unions. In addition, I advocate a redefinition of the concept of the surviving spouse in American estate distribution will help to legally protect de facto spouses in the inheritance context. Finally, I further propose that the common law marriage doctrine be used to help prove the existence of de facto polygamous unions.