Nicaragua’s government has thwarted democracy for its people with a sham presidential election and the imprisonment of journalists and opposition leaders. “What Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, orchestrated today was a pantomime election that was neither free nor fair, and most certainly not democratic,” [ … ]
Law enforcement officers have a professional obligation to be effective in providing security and protection. To do so, they are governed by high standards of respect for life and personal integrity. The power that the law grants them to fulfill their duties does not guarantee, by itself, that they cannot [ … ]
Javier Tarazona, director of FundaRedes, a nongovernmental organization that has reported the presence of irregular Colombian groups in Venezuelan territory, revealed the location of so-called “safe houses” allegedly used by leaders of irregular Colombian groups in Venezuela. “Leaders of the ELN [National Liberation Army, in Spanish] and the FARC [Revolutionary [ … ]
The seizure of cocaine and other illicit substances hidden in containers, ready to be shipped from air, sea, and land terminals, increased in 2020 and reached a total of 106 tons, 29 more than in 2019, according to a March 1, 2021 report of the United Nations Office on Drugs [ … ]
South American countries came together against international arms trafficking during Operation Trigger VI, coordinated by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, March 8-28. “The operation led to the arrest of nearly 4,000 suspects in all 13 South American countries, with the [ … ]
With transnational criminal organizations trafficking drugs, guns, and people in South and Central America, and China, Russia, Iran, and Cuba meddling and peddling influence in the region, U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) has its hands full working to keep the neighborhood safe. Increased intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capacity and a [ … ]
On April 13, 2021, the Brazilian Navy Patrol Vessel (NPa, in Portuguese) Guanabara, under the Northern Naval Patrol Group Command, intercepted a Venezuelan-flagged vessel, which was fishing illegally in Brazilian jurisdictional waters, off the coast of Amapá state. [caption id="attachment_45950" align="aligncenter" width="339"] The 14 crew members of the Venezuelan vessel [ … ]
On April 3, Colombian Minister of Defense Diego Molano accused Venezuela of acting as an “accomplice” of Colombian narcotrafficking groups in heavy confrontations that have forced thousands of people to cross the border and take refuge in Colombia. “What is happening in Venezuela is that narcotrafficking is slowly taking over [ … ]
Russia strengthened its support for Nicolás Maduro by signing a dozen cooperation agreements on food, finance, energy, military, science, technology, and mining, on March 30, 2021. It also renewed its commitment to support the South American country in health matters, which would include increasing the supply of vaccines to combat [ … ]
The Salvadoran government announced on February 16, 2021, the integration of 1,042 soldiers from its Armed Force, including 51 women, into security operations with National Civil Police officers to strengthen the defense strategy against gangs. With this addition, 9,000 officers are taking part in the Territorial Control Plan, the Ministry [ … ]
Nearly 24 percent of global cocaine production transits through Venezuela, according to the 2020 National Drug Threat Assessment report of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The document, published on March 2, 2021, reaffirms the importance of the South American country as a transit point for drugs shipped to the [ … ]
As the massive Chinese fishing fleet continues to advance, with practices of illegal and indiscriminate exploitation of maritime resources sparking concern on the Pacific coast of South America, the Chilean Navy has implemented a heavy surveillance protocol in December 2020. On December 14, the Chilean Navy’s General Directorate of the [ … ]
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