Get the latest security and defense stories from across the Americas.
Transnational Crime Venezuela’s legitimate Interim President Juan Guaidó is helping doctors and nurses fight COVID-19 — and survive the pandemic themselves — by paying them a living wage. “It is the first time in history that funds recovered and protected against the dictatorship are used for the benefit of Venezuelans,” Guaidó said September 5 when the Health Heroes program began. “While the…
Transnational Crime The Costa Rican Drug Control Police prevented the departure of a drug shipment hidden inside a plantain container in Moín, Limón province, on October 11, 2020. The shipment, which was bound for Antwerp, Belgium, totaled 2.9 tons of drugs, the Costa Rican newspaper AM Prensa reported. “Another blow to international organized crime. Today [October 11] [authorities] detected a suspicious container…
Transnational Crime The Brazilian government extended through April 30, 2021 Operation Green Brazil 2, which prevents and counters environmental crimes in the Amazon region. The Ministry of Defense (MD, in Portuguese) coordinates the initiative by deploying members of the Armed Forces and Public Safety and Environmental Protection agencies. Green Brazil 2, launched in May 2020, fights fire outbreaks, deforestation, and illegal mining.…
South America The U.S. Army deployed its amphibious landing ship USAV Chickahominy (LCU 2011) in Colombia to help the Colombian Military Forces transport humanitarian assistance to the San Andrés and Providencia archipelago, in response to the emergency caused by Hurricane Iota, which devastated much of the islands on November 16, 2020. The crew, consisting of 10 U.S. Army service members who are…
South America In late November, the U.S. government delivered two mobile emergency hospitals to Peru to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The hospitals, valued at more than $780,000, have the capacity to treat 80 patients a day. “The goal is that these two modern, complete mobile hospitals […] will be used to their maximum capacity to save Peruvians’ lives during the pandemic and…
South America On December 2, 2020, the Brazilian Navy (MB, in Portuguese) announced that the frigate Independência has began its return trip to Brazil after completing its mission with the Maritime Task Force (FTM, in Portuguese) of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Brazil will continue operating with the FTM through January 2021, with some 16 service members. Three MB…
Transnational Crime In late October, the Peruvian Armed Forces, in coordination with the National Police, destroyed thousands of marijuana plants in operations carried out in the Anco district, Ayacucho region. At that location, service members also destroyed clandestine drug labs, the Peruvian Armed Forces Joint Command (CCFFAA, in Spanish) reported. “Five labs used for drying and storing drugs, as well as 255,600…
Strategic Influence On November 30, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated China National Electronics Import & Export Corporation (CEIEC) for supporting the illegitimate Maduro regime’s efforts to undermine democracy in Venezuela, including its efforts to restrict internet service and conduct digital surveillance and cyber operations against political opponents. Chinese technology companies, including CEIEC, continue to…
Transnational Crime Four protected areas in the Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest (BAAPA, in Spanish), in eastern Paraguay, are threatened by narcotrafficking, marijuana crops, and logging, the environmental journalism platform Mongabay Latam said in its October 14 report Illegal Marijuana Crops Destroy Atlantic Forest. The BAAPA is an ecoregion shared by Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay and is one of the most biologically significant…
Transnational Crime In late October, the Colombian Navy intercepted a semisubmersible with more than 2 tons of cocaine, the Colombian Military Forces’ General Command (CGFM, in Spanish) said in a press release. The operation, which units of the Tumaco Coast Guard Station carried out off the coast of Nariño department, will likely affect the finances of the criminal group United Guerrillas of…
Transnational Crime On July 10, 2020, during a visit to U.S. Southern Command, U.S. President Donald J. Trump emphasized the importance of interagency coordination and international cooperation in the fight against narcotrafficking in the Caribbean and Latin America. Although this problem is not exclusive to the region, Latin America suffers numerous consequences due to narcotrafficking. The main cocaine producing countries are on…
Security & Cooperation After almost a decade-long service with United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon’s (UNIFIL) Maritime Task Force (MTF), assisting Lebanese Navy in securing the country’s vast territorial waters, Brazilian peacekeepers concluded their mission with UNIFIL before returning home December 2, 2020. Also concluding the UNIFIL mission, together with more than 200 Brazilian sailors, was the MTF flagship, frigate BRS Independência after nine months…
