The Western Hemisphere is increasingly confronting security and stability challenges that must be addressed together, academia, government entities, military officials, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and private sector experts expressed at the 8th annual Hemispheric Security Conference (HSC), in Miami, Florida, May 2-3, 2023. Under the theme Partnerships in the Decisive Decade, [ … ]
Transnational Threats
Colombian Navy Leads Multinational Operations Against Narcotrafficking
The Colombian Navy dealt hard blows to narcotrafficking, leading several combined operations with forces from the region, which resulted in the seizure of more than 4 tons of cocaine hydrochloride on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica and the Pacific coast of Colombia. The mid-March operations among the Colombian Navy, [ … ]
Colombian Women Return to Military Service After More Than 20 Years
In early February, a group of 1,296 women voluntarily joined the Colombian Army to serve in the first call-up in more than 20 years. The group is the first contingent of women of the four planned for 2023, where 5,184 women will be able to serve in different military units [ … ]
UN Issues Appeals Due to ‘Armed Violence and Terror’ in Haiti
Increasing gang violence in Haiti prompted the United Nations (U.N.) on April 24 to issue an appeal in response to the crisis in Cité Soleil, one of the most populous settlements in the Caribbean nation, located west of Port-au-Prince, the capital. “The security and humanitarian situation in many areas of [ … ]
Guatemala Gets US Support to Combat Narcotrafficking
The International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) section of the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala provides support to strengthen the professional capabilities of Guatemala’s National Civil Police (PNC), to improve citizen security and to combat narcotrafficking and related transnational organized crimes. This partnership is key as one of Guatemala’s main challenges [ … ]
Colombia on Track for Another Record Year for Cocaine Seizures
Colombian authorities have committed to seize the “largest amount of cocaine in history,” according to an early 2023 directive from the Colombian government to combat narcotrafficking, Spanish news site Notimerica reported. “There needs to be a [total] seizure that represents historic figures […],” said Colombian Defense Minister Iván Velásquez on [ … ]
Brazilian Navy Unveils New Armored Vehicles with Fanfare
On March 7, the Brazilian Marine Corps (CFN) celebrated its 215th anniversary with a military ceremony held at the São José Fortress on Ilha das Cobras. During the ceremony, the Brazilian Navy took the opportunity to present its newest armored vehicle, the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), acquired from U.S. [ … ]
Leaked Document Shows How Russia, China Collaborate on Censorship
Leaked documents provided to Voice of America’s (VOA) sister network RFE/RL confirm reports that Russia and China collaborate on censorship and internet control tactics. The materials detail documents and recordings said to be from closed-door meetings in 2017 and 2019 between officials from the Chinese and Russian agencies charged with [ … ]
Maduro and Organized Crime Harm Venezuela’s Nature Reserves
Illegal gold mining operations and armed groups and their obscure economic interests, in cahoots with the Nicolás Maduro regime, are contributing to the massive destruction of Venezuela’s nature reserves, Venezuelan human rights nongovernmental organization (NGO) FundaRedes says in a recent study. The study exposes the deterioration of 44 national parks, [ … ]
Central America, Mexico, and Dominican Republic, Together Against Crime
Central America, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic agreed to create a security strategy to have greater impact on the fight against organized crime; gangs; drug, arms, and human trafficking. Such was the outcome of the first Regional Conference of Security Ministers and Secretaries held in Guatemala City in February, Guatemala’s [ … ]
SOUTHCOM Commander, General Richardson, Visits Argentina, Chile
The commander of U.S. Southern Command, U.S. Army General Laura J. Richardson, visited Argentina and Chile April 16-21 and met with leaders from both nations to discuss security cooperation. The U.S. shares longstanding defense partnerships with Argentina and Chile. Gen. Richardson’s visits to Argentina and Chile were both the general’s [ … ]
Women, Peace, and Security at the Perry Center
Military and civilian personnel from 14 Latin American and Caribbean partner nations gathered at the workshop “Strategic and Political Implications of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325: Women, Peace, and Security,” in Washington, D.C., April 12, 2023. The workshop was organized by the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric [ … ]