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With inflation at a record high, millions of its citizens fleeing the country, and a political opposition recognized by most Western democracies as the legitimate government of Venezuela, the regime of Nicolás Maduro seemed to be on the brink of collapse in 2019. But Maduro regime survived, thanks to a number of factors — among them the external support it…
The indirect threat made by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as the crisis in the Ukraine escalated in January 2022, that Russia could not rule out deploying military forces to Venezuela and Cuba, highlighted the strategic risks posed by Russia's position in the Western Hemisphere. On its face, the credibility of Russia deploying militarily meaningful capabilities in those two…
The predictable triumph by Maduro loyalists in Venezuela’s rigged November 2021 elections was a symbolic nail in the coffin for the attempt by the de jure government of Juan Guaido to restore the more liberal type of democracy previously prevailing in the country. Venezuela now seems to ever more resemble Cuba, with an authoritarian government in control for the long…
The human being throughout his existence has been witness and protagonist of the struggle between good and evil. History illustrates from different perspectives how man has evolved and has become a being of knowledge, ideals and interests. When these are not fulfilled or satisfied, different mechanisms are established to obtain them. In this context, terrorism is not a new phenomenon,…
The human being throughout his existence has been witness and protagonist of the struggle between good and evil. History illustrates from different perspectives how man has evolved and has become a being of knowledge, ideals and interests. When these are not fulfilled or satisfied, different mechanisms are established to obtain them. In this context, terrorism is not a new phenomenon;…
A lack of due diligence, corruption, and a disregard for indigenous rights and the environment have characterized many Chinese infrastructure projects in the region. On December 7, a few days after the third China-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Forum, the Chinese Foreign Ministry released the China-CELAC Joint Action Plan for 2022-2024. It laid out Beijing’s plans to…
Nicaragua’s diplomatic flip from Taiwan to the People’s Republic of China (PRC), announced on December 9, was almost inevitable, but it will accelerate a worrisome trend in parts of the Western Hemisphere closest to the U.S. to a China-funded form of authoritarian populism. That growing threat, in a part of the hemisphere once considered politically allied or at least compliant…
The Guyanese government’s announcement that it is contracting with China Railway Group to build and fund the Amaila Falls hydroelectric project, and possibly take out as much as $1.5 billion in loans for Chinabuilt infrastructure, symbolizes the renewed takeoff of Chinese projects and PRC influence in Guyana. An earlier version of the Amaila Falls project, which also would have been…
On September 11, 2001, then US President George W. Bush had just completed a historic summit with his Mexican counterpart, Vicente Fox, the week prior. The interaction built on the “special friendship” between the two nations and the intertwined commercial, security, and other strategic interests binding the United States and Mexico.1 This relationship had deepened considerably in the seven years…
Panama’s maritime business is being transformed by the complex interaction between multiple factors. These include the growing economic and political power of China and US-China competition, the long-term structural impacts of Covid on both the region and global trade, US policies to contain immigration from the Northern Triangle, climate change, change the rise of leftist populism in the region, the…
Modern international law came into existence at the end of the Thirty Years’ War in Europe.1 Horrified by the unprecedented destruction of a series of wars over religion, European negotiators at Westphalia coined the phrase “cuius regio, eius religio.”2 Literally translated, it means “whose realm, his religion.” It could be loosely translated to mean, “No more interference in the internal affairs of…
How SOUTHCOM is Re-Shaping Intelligence Security Cooperation in the AOR through Collaboration Warfare “We’re connected to the nations in Latin America and [the] Caribbean by history, culture, and geography. We’re connected in every domain, sea, air, space, and cyber and land. Our security and prosperity are inextricably linked. When our neighbors succeed, we succeed, and when our neighbors are threatened,…
