Members of the Texas National Guard give directives to migrants at the United States-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, Thursday, May 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez). Image Source: Spectrum 1 News. The Southwest land border, also known as the United States-Mexico border, has been at the forefront of national political attention. Republican leaders have called … Continue reading Looking Beyond the Politics at the Southwest Border
Category: Western Hemisphere
Why the Latest Mediatic Kidnapping in Colombia Showcases the Immaturity of Negotiations with the ELN
Image Source: Diario La Opinión In early November, the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional, ELN), one of the oldest and most powerful Colombian guerrillas, claimed responsibility for kidnapping the parents of acclaimed football player Luis Díaz in Barrancas, Colombia. While the ELN released Díaz’s mother soon after the abduction, the guerrillas held Díaz’s … Continue reading Why the Latest Mediatic Kidnapping in Colombia Showcases the Immaturity of Negotiations with the ELN
The Strategic Rationale for Brazil’s Nuclear Submarine Does Not Hold Water
Image Source: Reuters As the AUKUS security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States continues to make headlines with its nuclear-powered submarines, another non-nuclear weapon state’s pursuit of the same capability went unnoticed. On October 4th, the Brazilian state-owned defense company Itaguaí Construções Navais and the Brazilian Navy cut the first steel … Continue reading The Strategic Rationale for Brazil’s Nuclear Submarine Does Not Hold Water
Mad Max: Climate Change, the Panama Canal, and U.S. National Security
Image Source: Shutterstock Rodolfo Sabonge served for 27 years as the Vice President for Planning and Development at the Panama Canal Authority. During the keynote remarks for the annual Climate Mobility Summit in September 2022, Mr. Sabonge briefly discussed the scenario design work he and his team undertook in the mid-1990s. Each scenario demonstrated the … Continue reading Mad Max: Climate Change, the Panama Canal, and U.S. National Security
Security at the Expense of Human Rights: The Case of El Salvador’s “Megacárcel”
Image Source: CNN At the end of February, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele announced the transfer of the first 2,000 prisoners to the “biggest prison in the Americas,” the “Terrorism Containment Center” (Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo - CECOT). The opening of this “megacárcel” (mega prison) is just one of the measures Bukele has undertaken under … Continue reading Security at the Expense of Human Rights: The Case of El Salvador’s “Megacárcel”
The Dragon, the Elephant, and the Jaguar Both Wanted to Tame
Image Source: Vivekanandia International Foundation. Image modified by the author. Guyana is a kaleidoscope of unresolved mysteries in a continent it barely resembles. The country lies geographically in South America. However, no one with a good knowledge of the region would ascribe it to Latin America. Guyanese speak English as lingua franca, yet they are … Continue reading The Dragon, the Elephant, and the Jaguar Both Wanted to Tame
Venezuela Sanctions: The U.S. Needs to Change its Goals
Photo credit: FreightWaves Between 2017 and 2019, former U.S. President Donald Trump instituted comprehensive economic sanctions against the Nicolás Maduro-led Venezuelan government, cutting off access to the U.S. financial system and freezing government assets, among others. The Trump administration also sanctioned state-owned oil gas company PDVSA, state-owned gold mining company, Minerven, and the Central Bank … Continue reading Venezuela Sanctions: The U.S. Needs to Change its Goals
PRC’s Renewed Soft Power Strategy and U.S. Global Health Security Efforts in Latin America
Image Source: Observer Research Foundation, Diplomacy Gone Amiss. When Joseph Nye coined the term “soft power” in 1990, he could not have known how strongly the People’s Republic of China (PRC) would buy into the concept; China’s leader Hu Jintao declared in 2007 that the PRC needed to invest more into soft power. Since that … Continue reading PRC’s Renewed Soft Power Strategy and U.S. Global Health Security Efforts in Latin America
Balancing Peace and Justice in the Colombian “Total Peace”
Image Source: Caracol Radio A Note from the Editor: This article was finalized earlier this month, before talks with the ELN began. As these conversations continue and information is released, there may be some changes relative to what is written below. Only six years after the historic peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of … Continue reading Balancing Peace and Justice in the Colombian “Total Peace”
Colombia’s New President Is Right: The U.S. Can End The War On Drugs By Changing The Focus Of Its Counternarcotics Strategy
Image Source: CNN This article is a guest submission from Ivan Thirion Romo. Recently, Colombia’s newly inaugurated President Gustavo Petro delivered a powerful speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), in which he criticized the dysfunctional policies of the United States’ “War on Drugs.” Petro criticized the U.S. counternarcotics strategy that has primarily focused … Continue reading Colombia’s New President Is Right: The U.S. Can End The War On Drugs By Changing The Focus Of Its Counternarcotics Strategy