Sarah Kinosian
As U.S. policy makers debate how much money should be spent on securing the U.S.-Mexico border to address the child migrant crisis, there is increasing evidence that criminal groups are taking advantage of already strict border controls in nefarious ways.
This report finds that U.S. assistance has dropped near the lowest levels in more than a decade—about US$2.2 billion foreseen for 2014. But dollar amounts are deceptive. While U.S. diplomatic efforts are flagging, other less transparent forms of military-to-military cooperation are on the rise. For example, the report finds that Special Operations Forces, whose budgets are not being cut as they re-deploy from Iraq and Afghanistan, are visiting Latin America more frequently for joint training in war-fighting skills, intelligence gathering, and other military missions.
Since 2002, the Defense Department has invested billions in building Colombia's air defense as a key tool in counternarcotics activities. A recently released DoD report shows the Pentagon is continuing this strategy in Colombia and is expanding efforts for Colombian pilots to train other Latin American militaries to stem drug trafficking.
Some say the United States’ alleged refusal to allow Honduras to repair fighter jets the Central American nation received during the Cold War is in protest of a controversial shoot down law passed in January, but the issue has been ongoing since the mid-90s.
This week U.S. Southern Command (Southcom) began engagement exercises in Central America and the Caribbean, Southcom's commander was given an award for his collaboration with the Honduran military and Peru stopped eradicating coca in the country's largest cocaine-producing region. Read these stories and other highlights from the region this week below.
This week the head of U.S. Southern Command (Southcom), General John Kelly, received an award for his collaboration with Honduras’ armed forces during a one-day visit to the country. The ceremony was the latest in a series of indicators that the U.S. is ramping up its cooperation with the Central American nation in its militarized fight against organized crime.
This week the U.S. House of Representatives passed target sanctions against Venezuelan officials, the FBI trained police officers in Sao Paulo ahead of the World Cup, and U.S. lawmakers were worried about the deteriorating human rights situation in Honduras. Below are these stories and other highlights from around the region this week.
This week lawmakers in the House proposed a review of U.S. drug policy in the region, Guatemala's Congress denied that there was ever a genocide and Costa Rica was still waiting for answers as to why the U.S. ran a covert Twitter-like program in Cuba from within its borders. Here's a roundup of these stories and other highlights from around the region this week.
This week Venezuelan and Mexican security forces came under fire for human rights abuses, Guatemala considered legalizing poppy and marijuana and Argentina said it was going to ramp up cooperation with the DEA due to increased drug trafficking in the country. Here's a roundup of these stories and other highlights from around the region this week.