Get the latest security and defense stories from across the Americas.
Security & Cooperation A task force of approximately 25 people and three aircraft assigned to the 1st Battalion, 228th Aviation Regiment, Joint Task Force Bravo (JTF-Bravo) returned to Honduras from Guatemala City, Guatemala, on November 28. Their return comes after the U.S. military personnel rapidly deployed to Guatemala City for a second time on November 21 to assist local government officials in rescue…
Strategic Influence In early October, Venezuela’s illegitimate National Constituent Assembly (ANC, in Spanish) handed dictator Nicolás Maduro a law that enables him to omit or “disregard” compliance with other laws for the purpose of circumventing sanctions imposed by the international community and bolstering foreign investment. The so-called Anti-blockade Law for National Development and the Guarantee of Human Rights has the explicit purpose…
Strategic Influence On October 13, I presented work on foreign deepwater fishing fleets in Latin America, to a virtual event held by the highly respected World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL). The event was held as 340 fishing vessels, mostly Chinese, moved from the Galápagos Islands, where they were believed to have illegally fished in a United Nations World Heritage Site, and continued their activities off the coasts of Peru and Chile.…
Transnational Crime The Peruvian government has taken a new step toward pacifying the Apurímac, Ene, and Mantaro Rivers Valley (VRAEM, in Spanish), by creating a command combining the Peruvian Armed Forces and the National Police (PNP, in Spanish) to respond to narcotrafficking and terrorism in the vast region, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement. On October 9, 2020, military and…
Transnational Crime On October 21, the Honduran Air Force, upon receiving intelligence from Colombia, intercepted a narco-aircraft in Brus Laguna municipality, Gracias a Dios department, coming from Venezuela, the Honduran Office of the Attorney General said in a statement. In total, authorities counted more than 200 kilograms of cocaine that the aircraft transported. This case, the Office of the Attorney General said,…
Transnational Crime Commander Uriel, one of the main leaders of Colombia’s left-wing National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels, was killed during a military operation, President Iván Duque announced on October 25. “This is a particularly important blow [to the ELN] because one of the most visible figures of this terrorist organization has fallen,” the president said in a speech in Chocó department, in…
Security & Cooperation Two U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress aircraft participated in Brother’s Shield, a Colombian Air Force-led exercise, and in UNITAS LXI, an Ecuadorean Navy-led exercise in U.S. Southern Command’s Area of Responsibility, November 8, 2020. This twofold mission began well before the B-52 crews took off that morning; there have been countless teleconferences and planning meetings to coordinate the combined training…
Transnational Crime As the fraudulent December 6 elections raise questions about the future of Venezuela, one thing remains clear: Venezuelans cannot have democracy while an illegitimate authoritarian regime is in power, says the U.S. Department of State. “Many of Venezuela’s most popular politicians are not permitted to run in the election, opposition political parties have been co-opted, there are no tested and…
Transnational Crime Ahead of the unconstitutional and fraudulent December 6 parliamentary elections in Venezuela, the illegitimate regime of Nicolás Maduro is cracking down on journalists. The Venezuelan constitution protects freedom of expression, forbids censorship, and guarantees access to information. However, Venezuela has fallen 31 places since 2014 in the World Press Freedom Index — ranking 147 out of 180 countries — thanks…
Central America On November 16, Hurricane Iota made landfall as a category 5 storm with sustained winds of nearly 155 mph. This comes just two weeks after Hurricane Eta brought heavy rains, severe flooding, and landslides to many of the same areas. An estimated 4.9 million people were affected by Hurricane Eta alone and more than 260,000 people across Latin America have…
Transnational Crime Salvadoran authorities seized 1.2 tons of cocaine during two simultaneous operations on October 12, 2020. It was the largest seizure in 10 years in the fight against international narcotrafficking, said Rogelio Rivas, Salvadoran minister of Justice and Public Security. “The Antinarcotics Division [...] and the National Civil Police have dealt a severe blow [...],” Rivas said. “The [trucks] came from…
Transnational Crime Venezuelan Interim President Juan Guaidó has called for a referendum (popular consultation or the People’s Vote) that will take place in parallel with the December 6 parliamentary elections promoted by the illegitimate Nicolás Maduro regime. Horacio Medina, a member of the Popular Consultation Organizing Committee, said that the event will take place on December 7-12 in two phases, one digital…
