Chinese mining companies have new projects in sight in lithium-rich Argentina and have committed to investing millions of dollars in pursuit of the “white gold,” the Argentine government indicated in an early June statement, following the visit to Shanghai of Economy Minister Sergio Massa. Among those, Tibet Summit Resources will [ … ]
Transnational Threats


Brazil Experiences Record Wave of Venezuelan Migrants
In the first three months of 2023, a record 51,838 Venezuelan migrants and refugees entered Brazil. This is the highest number ever recorded in the first three months of the year since 2020. Operation Shelter (Operação Acolhida), executed and coordinated by the Federal government, with the support of federal entities, [ … ]

China Clears Chilean and Peruvian Marine Forests
China’s uncontrollable demand for brown algae is causing overexploitation of this vital resource in Chile and Peru, destroying the region’s kelp forests, science journalism platform Historias sin Fronteras indicated in its May report, Underwater Deforestation. Algae are the marine lungs of the earth. “Sixty percent of the oxygen generated on [ … ]

China Seeks Greater Interference in Argentina
Argentina’s relations with China as well as some of its trade agreements are not only raising many questions at home but also having a deep impact in the international arena. Of the more than 200 existing agreements, 40 percent are related to science and technology with a focus on space [ … ]

China Sells Fentanyl for Cryptocurrencies
In two May reports, cryptocurrency-tracing firms Elliptic and Chainalysis indicated that chemical producers in China have been accepting cryptocurrencies as payment for ingredients for fentanyl, a lethal drug produced on a large scale in different countries worldwide. Elliptic researchers found more than 90 China-based companies supplying fentanyl precursors. Ninety percent [ … ]

China’s Cyber Hackers Sabotage Countries Worldwide
U.S. cybersecurity firm Mandiant, a subsidiary of Google, said that Chinese hackers, backed by their government, used a vulnerability in a well-known e-mail security device to access the networks of numerous public and private organizations in several countries worldwide, the Associated Press (AP) reported on June 15. “The Chinese state [ … ]

Ecuador Redoubles Efforts to Combat Illegal Mining
Ecuador has been intensifying the deployment of its Armed Forces in nine of the provinces most affected by illegal mining, the Interior Ministry said in early May. Although authorities acknowledge that this illicit activity exists throughout the country, the military is focusing on the provinces of Napo, Orellana, Esmeraldas, Zamora [ … ]

Peru Highlights Women’s Participation and Human Rights
Lima hosted the Human Rights Initiative Conference, June 13-15, organized by the Peruvian Armed Forces’ Center for International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, sponsored by U.S. Southern Command’s (SOUTHCOM) Human Rights Office and the Center for Human Rights Studies, Training, and Analysis (CECADH). Military leaders and human rights experts from [ … ]

UNITAS LXIV Begins in Colombia
U.S. Navy and Marine forces arrived in Cartagena in support of UNITAS LXIV, the world’s longest-running multinational maritime exercise in the world, which started July 11, 2023. The Colombian Navy is hosting this year's UNITAS, which features 26 warships/vessels, three submarines, 25 aircraft (fixed wing/helicopter), and approximately 7,000 people from [ … ]

Former Hong Kong Lawmaker Says China Using ‘Terror’ to Muzzle Dissent Overseas
China’s Foreign Ministry has told Australia to stop sheltering fugitives and “stop lending support for anti-China” elements. In Canberra, Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong said she has deep concerns over the arrest warrants for two Australia-based Hong Kong democracy campaigners. Beijing accuses them of “anti-China activities aimed at destabilizing [ … ]

Ortega-Murillo Regime Cancels the Red Cross
On June 2, the Nicaraguan Parliament approved a bill for the creation of the White Cross, attached to the Ministry of Health, after shutting down the Nicaraguan Red Cross (CRN), on the grounds that it violated its “principles of impartiality and neutrality” during the social protests of 2018, and threatened [ … ]

Ortega-Murillo Regime Uses New Repression and Control Methods
Police raids carried out throughout Nicaragua in May resulted in the arrests of some 60 opponents of the Daniel Ortega-Rosario Murillo regime. After being convicted within hours in summary trials without legal defense for “conspiracy to undermine national integrity and propagation of fake news,” the detainees were released on parole [ … ]