Colombian President Iván Duque raised eyebrows in August 2020 when claiming that the regime of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro was seeking to acquire medium-to-long-range missiles from the Islamic Republic of Iran. The claim came within the context of increased Tehran-Caracas commercial cooperation in 2020, sending upward of 2.35 million barrels of [ … ]
“The women who make up the Guatemalan Army are, like the rest of the members of this institution, soldiers in the service of their country, who serve without distinctions, other than those earned by their meritorious acts. Many of them, with their service, have strengthened the institutional response to the [ … ]
More than 100 miles from shore, near the coast of West Africa, I accompanied marine police officers from Gambia as they arrested 15 foreign ships for labor violations and illegal fishing over the course of a week in 2019. All but one of the vessels arrested were from China. At [ … ]
No nation can afford to ignore half its population. That’s the premise of the United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 on the Women, Peace, and Security program. It is good to remember this on International Women’s Day. In 2017, U.S. Congress passed the Women, Peace, and Security Act that called [ … ]
ADSUMUS is a Latin word meaning “here we are.” Responding with ADSUMUS means that one is ready and present to answer a call or an order at any time. As such, members of the Brazilian Marine Corps (CFN, in Portuguese), which celebrates its 213th anniversary on March 7, use the [ … ]
The alarm goes off at 6 a.m. He wakes up and begins a typical military morning routine, with a good shave and a shower. Following a full breakfast, he starts what he sees as one the most gratifying part of the mission: giving smiles and hugs not only to his [ … ]
From the economic downturn forecasted by economists to the ongoing migration crisis of Venezuelan refugees and the wave of protests as citizens react to electoral fraud, grand corruption, and crippling austerity measures, the trends currently underway across our hemisphere indicate a period of challenges for democracies ahead. Recent polls from [ … ]
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 [ … ]
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 [ … ]
The Russian Federation considers the Latin American (LATAM) region one of the main areas of its ongoing global outreach. Despite a relatively light footprint in terms of manpower and materiel, Russia has managed to maintain and strengthen its military-security relationship with three key states: Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua. Moscow is [ … ]
On the 90th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), August 1, 2017, China opened its first overseas naval base in the eastern African country of Djibouti. Questions regarding China’s future intentions quickly ensued: Would China open another such facility? If so, where and how soon? Though [ … ]
Over the last 10 years, China has flooded Latin America with money, with more than $117 billion in loans, making the region one of the world’s most indebted to the Chinese government. The conditions of these loans, which some politicians have described as predatory, worry economists. Latin America, along with [ … ]
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