In early November, government representatives, cybersecurity experts and military personnel from the armed forces of the countries that make up the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB) took part in the Hemispheric Cyber Defense Conference 2023. The event was held in Washington, D.C. Under the theme Strengthening Cyber Shields: Toward Hemispheric Cooperation [ … ]
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Drought and Crime Exacerbate Degradation of the Amazon
The Amazon region is going through its worst drought in more than a century. In Brazil, the Rio Negro, one of the region’s great rivers, has reached a depth of 12.89 meters, the lowest mark since measurements began in 1902. The Amazon rivers and tributaries, through which food, medicine, and [ … ]
Maduro Earns Worldwide Criticism over the Essequibo
Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro has embarked on an aggressive campaign to annex some 160,000 square kilometers of territory belonging to Guyana, following the December 3 consultative referendum. The referendum sought to gauge the opinions of voters on five issues relating to a long-standing dispute between Venezuela and its eastern border neighbor. [ … ]
Ortega-Murillo Regime Offers Energy Megaprojects to China
State-owned company China Huadian Overseas Investment will build the Tumarín and Mojolka power projects in Nicaragua. The Daniel Ortega-Rosario Murillo regime announced the agreement in mid-October, state media El 19 Digital reported. “Nicaragua seeks to carry out infrastructure projects, but their authenticity and viability are being questioned,” Ricardo Abello, professor [ … ]
Arkansas Air Guard Medics Provide Free Medical Care in Guatemala
Thirty-six Arkansas National Guardsmen from the 188th Wing at Ebbing Air National Guard base in Fort Smith and the 189th Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base in Jacksonville departed early December for a seven-day mission providing free medical care in Guatemala City. “We are delighted to contribute to [ … ]
Amazon: Brazilian Criminal Groups and FARC Dissidents Join Forces for Cocaine Trafficking
Criminal organizations are joining forces in the Amazon and using the jungle as a route for international cocaine trafficking. Documents from the Colombian Army, obtained by the investigative journalism consortium Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), indicate that dissidents from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have sent [ … ]
Nicaragua Increases Gold Export of Dubious Origin
Nicaragua has become the largest exporter of gold in Central America, although its sales abroad do not match the amount extracted from its mines. The discrepancy suggests, according to some experts, that the Daniel Ortega-Rosario Murillo regime is triangulating the sale of the mineral from other countries. “There is a [ … ]
UN Reports 3,960 Gang Deaths in Haiti in 2023
A November 26 United Nations (U.N.) report denounces that the violence that gangs unleashed in Haiti has left more than 3,000 people dead and thousands of others injured and victims of kidnapping. The report calls for speeding up the sending of a multinational force to the island. "The situation in [ … ]
Honduras Hosts Human Rights Conference
Military and law enforcement leaders from 10 countries came together for the Central American Human Rights Initiative Conference in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, November 29-30, to analyze human rights directives and policies applied in participating countries. The Conference was made possible thanks to the Honduran Ministry of Defense and U.S. Southern Command [ … ]
Colombia: Great Results in the Fight Against Narcotrafficking
The Colombian Military Forces are keeping up the fight against narcotrafficking carrying out operations within the frame of the Ayacucho Joint Strategic Campaign Plan, the military plan that supports the government’s “Total Peace” effort. These include the destruction of drug processing laboratories, cocaine seizures, and the capture of criminals, among [ … ]
US Army, Guyana Defense Forces Strengthen Military Partnership
The leadership from U.S. Army 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB) and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) met November 27-28 as part of the United States and Guyana’s strong military-to-military partnership. The U.S. and Guyana defense forces discussed upcoming engagements to include strategic planning sessions and processes to enhance both [ … ]
US Naval Forces Southern Command Conducts Inaugural Maritime Planning Symposium
Twenty-five naval officers from eight partner nations recently completed the first-ever U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/ U.S. 4th Fleet (USNAVSO/4THFLT) Maritime Planning Symposium at the Peruvian Naval War College in Callao, Peru, in mid-November 2023. Supported by the College of Operational Warfare – International Maritime Staff Officer Course at the [ … ]