The Bolivian Police Special Tactical Action Group carried out a mega-operation in an airfield in the municipality of Cotoca, Santa Cruz de la Sierra department. Authorities arrested 38 people (36 men and two women), seized 66 aircraft, and locked 29 hangars. [caption id="attachment_70129" align="alignright" width="300"] The Bolivian Police’s Special Tactical [ … ]
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Security Forces Blow up Narco Clandestine Ports on the Brazil-Paraguay Border
[caption id="attachment_70147" align="alignright" width="300"] The Border Police Battalion monitors at least 300 clandestine ports along the banks of the Paraná River and the Itaipu Lake, on the border Brazil-Paraguay border. (Photo: Brazilian Federal Police)[/caption] Brazilian security forces blew up some 20 clandestine ports used for international drug and arms trafficking [ … ]
Russian Propaganda Misleads Audiences in Latin America
Kremlin-controlled media outlets such as RT and Sputnik have amassed a large number of Spanish-speaking followers on social media platforms and spread disinformation to millions, news site Insider reported April 7, 2022. RT is now the third most shared site on Twitter with Spanish-language information about the Ukraine invasion, AP [ … ]
Ecuadorian Police Seizes More Than 6 tons of Cocaine
Ecuador’s security forces stopped more than 6 tons of cocaine from leaving Guayaquil ports in two operations in early April and mid-March 2022. On April 1, Ecuador’s National Police said via Twitter that its agents seized more than 3 tons of the drug hidden in banana crates that were being [ … ]
Clan del Golfo Military Leader Captured
Colombia’s security forces continue to weaken the Clan del Golfo criminal group, striking hard at its financial structure and hunting down its top leaders. Troops from the Colombian Army’s Fourth Brigade and National Police units captured alias El Viejo, Felipe or Sebastián, who served as an alleged military leader of [ … ]
NASA Deploys SOFIA Observatory in Chile
The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a joint NASA-German Aerospace Center (DLR) project, completed an observation mission in Chile April 1, where it captured high-resolution celestial images only visible from the Southern Hemisphere. SOFIA is a Boeing 747SP aircraft modified to carry a reflecting telescope with an effective diameter [ … ]
Brazil Among Hosts of Exercise Viking 22
For the second time, Brazil served as a remote site for Exercise Viking 22, the largest multifunctional simulation of peacekeeping operations worldwide. The exercise, coordinated by the Swedish Ministry of Defense, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense, was carried out simultaneously in five countries: Brazil, Bulgaria, Finland, Qatar, [ … ]
Colombia Arrests Russian Citizen for Financing Acts Directed at Destabilizing the Country
On March 30, the Colombian Army and the Attorney General’s Office captured in the town of Suba, Bogotá, Russian citizen Sergei Vagin and six Colombians, alleged members of a criminal network that moved millions of dollars to finance operations against the Public Force and organize protests in the country since [ … ]
Central American Firefighters Train Jointly During CENTAM SMOKE
[caption id="attachment_70016" align="alignright" width="300"] A 612th Air Base Squadron instructor guides participants to enter a structure on fire, following established protocol and using the appropriate safety equipment. (Photo: Kay Valle/Diálogo)[/caption] Joint Task Force Bravo’s (JTF-Bravo) 612th Air Squadron Fire Department conducted a new iteration of the Central America Sharing Mutual [ … ]
US Imposes Sanctions on Guatemalan Cartel Los Huistas
The U.S. Treasury Department announced March 18 sanctions against leaders and individuals linked to the Los Huistas cartel because their actions “threaten the people and security of the United States and Guatemala,” the Treasury said in a statement, which also noted a reward for information leading to the capture of [ … ]
US to Designate Colombia as Major Non-NATO Ally
As part of a bilateral meeting between the United States and Colombia, held March 10, 2022 at the White House, U.S. President Joe Biden announced that he will declare Colombia a major non-NATO ally, which would give the South American country more privileges in the areas of defense, trade, and [ … ]
Crimes Against Humanity in Venezuela
The CASLA Institute, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) based in the Czech Republic that monitors democracy in Latin America, presented on March 11, 2022 to the Organization of American States (OAS) the report Crimes against Humanity in Venezuela 2021, which shows the chain of command within the Nicolás Maduro regime and [ … ]