Get the latest security and defense stories from across the Americas.
On May 8, 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the United States would no longer participate in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Better known as the Iran nuclear deal, JCPOA is an agreement between Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States) plus Germany together with…
More than 90,000 people are imprisoned in Cuba, the country with the largest prison population per capita in the world, with 794 inmates for every 100,000 inhabitants. One out of every three Cubans has been imprisoned at least once, says Prison Insider, a French nongovernmental organization (NGO) that advocates for political prisoners. In November 2019, Cuba asked Russia’s Federal Penitentiary…
In late 2019, several international organizations reported that Colombian illegal armed groups have been exploiting Venezuelan minors. Groups such as the National Liberation Army (ELN, in Spanish), dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC, in Spanish), Clan del Golfo, and other criminal rings engaged in narcotrafficking, illegal mining, or human trafficking recruit Venezuelan children and teenagers in the…
On December 16, 2019, Brazil launched its first Integrated Border Operation Center (CIOF, in Portuguese) in Foz do Iguaçu, in the state of Paraná, as part of the VIGIA Program. The Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP, in Portuguese) created the program in April, which the Secretariat of Integrated Operations (Seopi, in Portuguese) implemented. According to Wagner Mesquita, general…
In Nicaragua, the Catholic Church is one of the most critical voices of President Daniel Ortega’s actions, denouncing reprisals, murders, and human rights violations in the country. The Church’s remarks are a “major annoyance” to Ortega, who sees its members as his enemies for denouncing the truth, said to Diálogo Marcos Carmona, president of Nicaragua’s Permanent Commission on Human Rights.…
Due to concerns about future projects in Latin America, Russia has reaffirmed its willingness to cooperate with Bolivia’s Interim President Jeanine Áñez, who promised to respect the ruling of the Supreme Electoral Court to hold elections in May 2020. The relations between the two countries involve investments worth over $1.5 billion in Bolivia’s defense, gas, and nuclear energy sectors, which…
Social media has emerged as an effective tool against the socialist regime. Although many Cubans lack internet access because of the State’s costly and controlled internet connection, young people are using technology to question the island’s political system. In 2019, dissident groups initiated protests via social media to show their disapproval of the Miguel Díaz-Canel government, which led to intervention…
In a building of Puerto Maduro, a waterfront neighborhood of Buenos Aires, service members monitor their computer screens around the clock. Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), antivirus neutralization, or confidential data propagation are some of the attacks that the Argentine Armed Forces seek to prevent, as part of their role at the Cyber Defense Joint Command (CCCD, in Spanish), a…
The top U.S. commander in Latin America and the Caribbean says illicit narcotics money is now a "big part" of financing the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. "If you're a cartel leader, you now see an easy pathway through Venezuela into commercial shipping and air to distribute your product, and Maduro and his illegitimate regime are getting a cut,"…
The Colombian Military Forces fight around the clock against cyberattacks and radicalization and misinformation campaigns, which seek to discredit the work of institutions and polarize society. Their main support is the Joint Cyber Command (CCOC, in Spanish). “The CCOC has data processing capabilities and direct interconnection to communications and software with virtual research, containment, and defense capabilities,” Juan P. Salazar,…
At least 420 doctors and health workers from the Ministry of Health’s network of public hospitals in Nicaragua were removed from their position between 2018 and 2019 for defending the right to medical care of people labeled as dissidents, says the Nicaraguan Medical Unit, a nongovernmental organization that fights for the rights of health professionals. In contrast, clandestine health care…
Colombian pilots carry out fire extinguishing duties in one of the harshest drought seasons of the last 20 years. During 2019, the Colombian Air Force (FAC, in Spanish) worked tirelessly to extinguish and control fires. Pilots overflew the territory to extinguish fires that consumed 318,214 acres of vegetation due to strong winds, scarce rain, and high temperatures, in addition to…
