Get the latest security and defense stories from across the Americas.
In mid-September, a Colombian government delegation met with leaders of dissident groups of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to explore potential peace talks with members of groups who rejected the 2016 peace agreement in Havana. President Petro posted two photos on his Twitter account with the caption, “a dialogue begins,” showing the Colombian government’s High Commissioner for Peace…
The Cuban dictatorship deployed a large police force to repress the demonstrations ofJuly 11, 2022, which marked the one year anniversary of the historic protests that shook the island, in which tens of thousands of Cubans took to the streets demanding an end to the regime and respect for human rights. “The Cuban regime has condemned over 550 protestors to…
The U.S. Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) will deploy to the U.S. Southern Command area of operations this fall as part of U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet’s (USNAVSO/4THFLT) Continuing Promise 2022 mission. Detailed planning is currently underway for the Comfort to visit Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, and Honduras. During these mission stops, Continuing Promise medical teams…
The Brazilian Armed Forces and public security forces seized about $40 million in illicit drugs during operations to combat cross-border and environmental crimes in the states of Pará, Amapá, and Maranhão, in the Brazilian Amazon. Operation Ágata Norte, carried out June 1-9, 2022, strengthened surveillance in land and sea borders up to the limit of the territorial sea. Authorities focused…
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces in Ukraine have destroyed apartment buildings, schools, hospitals, shopping centers and ambulances, leaving thousands of civilians killed or wounded. Mounting evidence indicates that the Russian Federation’s forces are torturing and killing civilians in the cities they capture. After Russia’s forces withdrew from the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, city officials recovered hundreds of bodies from the…
With her swearing-in on October 29, 2021, U.S. Army General Laura J. Richardson became the first woman to lead U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) and only the third woman to lead one of the U.S. military’s 11 unified combatant commands. As commander, Gen. Richardson oversees U.S. military operations across South and Central America, in addition to the Caribbean. “We must hasten to pick…
Nicaragua’s government has thwarted democracy for its people with a sham presidential election and the imprisonment of journalists and opposition leaders. “What Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, orchestrated today was a pantomime election that was neither free nor fair, and most certainly not democratic,” said President Biden November 7. In the months leading up to…
The Cuban regime is going through its worst crisis since the 1990s, when it lost all its subsidies from the Soviet Union after the demise of the superpower. With a growth forecast of 2 percent in 2021, versus an 11 percent contraction in 2020, according to the Cuban Ministry of Economy, the government is facing a decline in its main…
On August 17, Panama sent 15 tons of humanitarian aid to Haiti for the people affected by the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck the Caribbean country. The shipment, which included dry food, medicine, water, and tents, departed on a Chilean Air Force flight that took off from the Panamanian National Air and Naval Service (SENAN) terminal at Tocumen International Airport…
At Haiti’s request, the United States government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, deployed an urban search and rescue team on August 15, 2021. This is the second unit USAID has sent to the Caribbean nation following the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck the country on August 14, the institution said in a statement.…
On May 19, U.S. Navy Admiral Craig S. Faller, commander of U.S. Southern Command, said that he views “with concern” Iran’s activities in Venezuela, with the shipment of crude in tankers and the country’s interest in controlling the Latin American region. “I view Iran’s interests with concern […]; we're tracking that closely and sharing intel with our partners” in the…
