Get the latest security and defense stories from across the Americas.
Transnational Crime In recent years, the geography of Brazilian drug trafficking has undergone a profound transformation, reshaping the map of organized crime across Latin America. While Paraguay served for decades as the principal operational rear base for the First Capital Command (PCC) and the Red Command (CV), the center of gravity of their operations is increasingly shifting toward Bolivia. According to investigators,…
Strategic Influence As blackouts continue to cripple Cuba and fuel growing public discontent, China is leveraging the island’s worst energy crisis in decades to deepen its dependence on Chinese-made solar technology. By supplying photovoltaic panels, inverters, specialized equipment, and technical assistance, Beijing is establishing an increasingly important position in a sector critical to restoring Cuba’s electrical system while expanding its strategic influence…
Strategic Influence 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…
Transnational Crime 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,…
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…
Transnational Crime 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…
Strategic Influence 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…
Security & Cooperation 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…
Strategic Influence 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…
Transnational 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…
Strategic Influence 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…
Security & Cooperation 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…
