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The Transitional World Order: Implications for Latin America and the Caribbean

The Transitional World Order: Implications for Latin America and the Caribbean

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—indirectly underwritten by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and with the Western response hampered by the threat of nuclear war—highlights a world transitioning away from the institutional, economic, and ideological order that has prevailed since the end of World War II. The transition will have significant and grave implications, and its dynamics are likely to be uneven, with the U.S.…

March 30, 2022
Chinese Waste Pollutes Galápagos Islands

Chinese Waste Pollutes Galápagos Islands

The Chinese fleet that periodically threatens the Galápagos Islands in Ecuador goes beyond engaging in predatory fishing that plunders the oceans of Latin America. The vessels also throw tons of waste into the sea, killing wildlife, polluting the waters, and destroying an ecosystem that is home to more than 7,000 endemic species. Bottles, containers of marine oil, and Chinese-labeled jute…

March 30, 2022
US Helps Strengthen Paraguay’s Health System

US Helps Strengthen Paraguay’s Health System

The United States, through its Office of Defense Cooperation and Humanitarian Assistance program, donated four field hospitals and 24 ventilators to the Paraguayan National Emergency Secretariat (SEN, in Spanish), the U.S. Embassy in Paraguay announced February 10, 2022. The contribution, valued at $2.7 million, will strengthen the national public health system and increase relief capabilities of the Paraguayan Ministry of…

March 25, 2022
Operation Discovery Dismantles Cybercrime Network in the Dominican Republic

Operation Discovery Dismantles Cybercrime Network in the Dominican Republic

Following months of investigations, the Dominican Republic Office of the Attorney General dismantled a transnational cybercrime network believed to have defrauded hundreds of U.S. citizens of more than $200 million, through sexual and economic extortion and identity theft, the Attorney General’s Office said in a March press release. On March 2, authorities carried out dozens of raids as part of…

March 25, 2022
British Soldier, First to Row Solo Across the Atlantic from Portugal to Miami

British Soldier, First to Row Solo Across the Atlantic from Portugal to Miami

Monster waves, high winds, sleep deprivation, rogue killer whales, boat-sinking marlins, and salt sores, among other hazards of the open seas, didn’t stop British Army Corporal Jack Jarvis from achieving his dream. He trained tirelessly for months to complete a record-breaking solo transatlantic charity row. On March 24, after a perilous 111-day journey at sea that spanned 4,600 nautical miles,…

March 24, 2022
Paraguay: Anti-Drug Agents Destroy Mega Drug Lab, Seize 3 Tons of Marijuana

Paraguay: Anti-Drug Agents Destroy Mega Drug Lab, Seize 3 Tons of Marijuana

In just over a week, special agents of the Paraguayan National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD, in Spanish) dealt two harsh blows to narcotrafficking. On February 27, during a raid in a rural area of ​​Colonia Piray, Amambay department, SENAD agents found a mega marijuana processing lab. “We found a very well-appointed structure. It’s a laboratory for marijuana, but for a variety…

March 24, 2022
Russia-Venezuela Military Partnership A Threat to Latin America

Russia-Venezuela Military Partnership A Threat to Latin America

The Venezuelan regime’s support for the Vladimir Putin government amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a destabilizing factor for Latin America. “Russia has the full support of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro said, upon receiving Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov at the Miraflores Palace on February 16, 2022. “We have ratified the path of powerful military…

March 22, 2022
Ecuador Fights Narcotrafficking in Its Ports

Ecuador Fights Narcotrafficking in Its Ports

Ecuador’s port terminals stimulate and diversify the economy, but the large number of containers and ships the country receives daily attract narcotrafficking networks that attempt to send shipments of drugs to Europe. In 2021, 3,383 international trading vessels docked in Ecuadorian ports, including 1,764 vessels that entered ports in the city of Guayaquil, the Ecuadorian Undersecretariat of Ports and Maritime…

March 21, 2022
12 FARC Dissidents Captured in Spain

12 FARC Dissidents Captured in Spain

Colombian and Spanish authorities captured 12 individuals accused of receiving cocaine shipments in Europe during a military operation carried out in early February 2022. The detainees — six Colombians, four Spaniards, a Belgian, and a Moroccan — are alleged members of the criminal group Jaime Martínez Structure, a dissident faction of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC, in Spanish),…

March 18, 2022
Brazilian Organized Crime Destroys the Amazon with Illegal Mining

Brazilian Organized Crime Destroys the Amazon with Illegal Mining

Brazil’s largest narcotrafficking faction, the First Capital Command (PCC, in Portuguese) has been increasingly infiltrating illegal mining in the Brazilian Amazon. “In addition to narcotrafficking, the organization exploits prostitution, the sale of gasoline, food, beverages, and private security,” the Brazilian news site UOL reported in early February 2022, based on information from Brazilian public security authorities. According to the report,…

March 18, 2022
SOUTHCOM Commander Says Partnerships Key to National Defense in Western Hemisphere

SOUTHCOM Commander Says Partnerships Key to National Defense in Western Hemisphere

In just four months of leading U.S. Southern Command, there’s one thing that’s become apparent to U.S. Army General Laura J. Richardson. The key to addressing security threats in South America, and by extension to the United States itself, doesn’t just lie with U.S. military but with the militaries of the partner nations already there. “In my initial travels in…

March 11, 2022
Narcotrafficking Violence Leads to Spike in Insecurity in Ecuador

Narcotrafficking Violence Leads to Spike in Insecurity in Ecuador

Ecuador began 2022 with a record seizure of 25 tons of drugs and a spike in violence with more than 300 murders through mid-February, the EFE news agency reported. The previous year  marked an outbreak of violence, with an average of 13 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, the worst figure in the last 10 years, the Ecuadorian newspaper Primicias said. According…

March 11, 2022