China Deepens Strategic Position in Ecuador’s Gold and Copper Sector
China is rapidly expanding its presence across Ecuador’s strategic mineral sector, securing access to major gold and copper deposits that are increasingly critical to global industrial supply chains, advanced manufacturing, and the energy transition. The latest step came in April 2026, when Ecuador signed an agreement worth more than $1.7 billion for the development of the Los Cangrejos deposit in…
Illegal Gold Mining Fuels the Evolution of Criminal Networks in Peru
The rapid expansion of illegal gold mining in Peru’s Amazon and border regions is reshaping criminal dynamics across the country as traditional coca-producing networks in the Apurímac, Ene and Mantaro Rivers Valley (VRAEM) and elsewhere increasingly invest capital and manpower in illicit mining operations. High global gold prices, the ease with which illicit gold can be laundered into legal markets,…
Chile Expands Regional Security Partnerships Against Transnational Crime
Chile is strengthening a growing network of regional and international partnerships as it confronts the expanding challenge of transnational organized crime. Through cooperation agreements with the United States, joint mechanisms with Argentina and Bolivia, and broader coordination initiatives with neighboring countries, Santiago is enhancing the intelligence, investigative, and operational capabilities needed to address criminal organizations that operate across borders. The…
Low-Cost Drones: A New Challenge in the Fight Against Organized Crime in Latin America
Criminal organizations are increasingly adapting commercial drones across Latin America to bypass security measures, monitor law-enforcement activity, transport illicit materials, and support criminal operations from prisons and remote territories. Their growing accessibility and versatility present an evolving challenge for security, defense, and law enforcement agencies throughout the region. The threat in Ecuador’s prisons In late April, Ecuador’s Interior Minister John…
Brazil’s Critical Minerals Push and the Race for Strategic Autonomy
As concerns grow over China’s dominance of global rare earth and strategic mineral supply chains, Brazil is emerging as one of the world’s leading alternatives. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the country holds approximately 11 million metric tons of rare earth reserves, the second largest in the world after China, in addition to significant deposits of other critical…
US Assistance Supports Venezuela’s Transition from Relief to Recovery
Weeks after two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela on June 24, the international response has moved beyond the race to find survivors. The priorities now include sustaining displaced families, restoring essential services, assessing damaged buildings and infrastructure, expanding health care, and maintaining the logistics networks that allow assistance to reach affected communities. As those needs evolve, U.S. assistance is also moving…
Argentina’s Push to Strengthen Its Aerospace Capabilities
As space becomes increasingly important to security and defense, Argentina is strengthening its aerospace capabilities to enhance surveillance of its territory, integrate satellite-derived information, and expand cooperation with regional and international partners. Leading that effort is Major General Plinio Guillermo Poma, commander of the Argentine Armed Forces Joint Aerospace Command (COCAE). An Argentine Air Force officer and fighter pilot, Maj.…
Solar Power and Strategic Influence: China’s Expanding Footprint in the Caribbean
As Caribbean countries accelerate their energy transition, China is steadily expanding its presence in the region’s renewable energy sector, particularly in solar power. Between 2020 and 2024, Chinese exports of green technologies to the Caribbean grew by more than 570 percent. At the same time, this expansion has raised concerns about project transparency, growing technological dependence, and the possibility that…
The ‘Marset Model’: How Regional Cooperation Is Changing the Fight Against Organized Crime
In the early hours of March 13, 2026, a small team of counternarcotics agents entered a residence in the Las Palmas neighborhood of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. The operation, the result of weeks of coordination and intelligence sharing between Bolivian authorities and international partners, had been prepared under strict information compartmentalization. Only a limited number of officials knew…
Capabilities, Coordination, and Preparedness: Lessons from Haiti and Chile for a Stronger Regional Disaster Response
The two powerful earthquakes that struck Venezuela on June 24 once again underscored the enormous challenges countries face when a catastrophe overwhelms national response capabilities. Beyond the scale of the disaster itself, such events also test the speed, coordination, and effectiveness of regional and international cooperation. In an exclusive interview with Diálogo, retired Chilean Army General Ricardo Toro, former director…
China Strengthens Its Influence in Cuba’s Strategic Nickel Sector
As Canadian company Sherritt International’s participation in Cuba’s nickel sector faces a period of uncertainty after initially announcing plans to withdraw from one of its joint ventures with the Havana regime, China is steadily expanding its technological support for the island’s mining industry. The introduction of Chinese-supplied equipment to modernize aging facilities is helping keep one of the Cuban regime’s…
Water First: How Panama Balances Essential Services and Canal Security During PANAMAX
As Panama prepares to host PANAMAX 2026, national authorities are approaching the multinational exercise through a principle that has become increasingly central to the country’s long-term planning: water comes first. The exercise, which brings together partner nations to strengthen coordination for the protection of the Panama Canal and other strategic infrastructure, will take place within a system where water management…
