The U.S. continued its air campaign against the Islamic State with some estimates of the cost so far at $1 billion. The U.K., Canada, Australia, Denmark and Turkey all committed to join the campaign in Iraq. The U.N. and U.S. are expanding their mission to combat the spread of Ebola in West Africa. Amnesty International released a new report on widespread use of torture by police in Mexico. And the five countries bordering the Caspian Sea met to announce their agreement to prevent outside military presence in the sea.
Last week, representatives of the Colombian government and the FARC rebel group began a 29th round of peace negotiations in Havana. Over the coming days, victims of the conflict will give testimony to the negotiators, who will eventually decide on the process for recognizing and compensating the many victims of the decades-long civil struggle.
The United States continued airstrikes against the “Islamic State” (IS) in Iraq and expanded its campaign into Syria, where strikes also targeted the Khorasan group, a lesser-known militia affiliated with Al-Qaida. Meanwhile, the Kenyan government pledged to to “stay the course” until the terrorist group al-Shabaab is sufficiently weakened. On Tuesday, the Colombian government and the rebel group known as the FARC published the text of agreements reached at ongoing peace talks. Georgia reportedly offered to host a training center for Syrian rebels, which Georgian officials subsequently denied.
After delaying the shipment of Apache helicopters to Egypt last fall in the aftermath of the coup against then-president Mohamed Morsi, both U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel have recently said the United States would move forward on delivering ten Apaches to support Egypt’s counterterrorism efforts in the Sinai. Based on congressional action, however, the United States will continue to postpone the transfer of some past and potentially future U.S. military aid to Egypt until it is clear that Egypt is taking effective steps towards a democratic transition.
This week, the United States Congress passed a Continuing Resolution which included an amendment to train and equip “moderate” Syrian rebels to combat the “Islamic State” (IS). Meanwhile, President Obama pledged 3,000 troops to help fight the Ebola epidemic. The White House also published its annual list of “Major Drug Transit or Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries,” the majority of which are located in Latin America. On Thursday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed a bill that would give major non-NATO ally status to Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova.
Latin America Security By the Numbers