After being re-elected to serve his first full term as Ecuador’s president, Daniel Noboa faces significant challenges to improve the country’s dire security situation. His approach will define the country’s security trajectory for the coming years, writes Shannon Lorimer.
Mexico’s judicial reforms have the potential to politicise judges and undermine the rule of law, weakening the country’s already fragile judicial institutions. These moves hand the ruling party more influence, and threaten further demonstrations, decreased investor confidence and political instability, writes Shannon Lorimer.
In tackling the country’s persistently high levels of violent crime, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has intensified security operations led by the military. This marks a publicised departure from the ‘hugs not bullets’ approach of her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), although its success is not guaranteed, writes Shannon Lorimer.…
The collapse of a longstanding truce in January between factions of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia dissident group and the Ejército de Liberación Nacional prompted a surge in violence in Catatumbo Region. The fighting has exposed certain shortcomings in President Gustavo Petro’s approach to conflict resolution and will likely prompt…
Latin America’s travel security landscape remains dominated by kidnappings, extortion and associated violence driven by organised crime and wider insecurity.
Wealthy private schools have become increasingly opportune targets for extortion in Peru. The associated potential for violent retaliation against these vulnerable facilities for failure to meet criminals’ demands poses a growing security concern for learners and staff, writes Erin Drake.
A proliferation in narcotics trafficking over the past few years, alongside the diversification of trafficking routes, has prompted an increase in drug-related violence. While some countries try to replicate El Salvador’s iron fist measures to reduce violent crime, others are turning to alternative, softer methods. Yet, it is not clear that either of…
In June 2024, an attempted coup in Bolivia highlighted the country’s growing political and economic crises. With just a year remaining before the country’s general election in August 2025, President Luis Arce faces factionalism within the ruling party, impeding his ability to address shortages of foreign currency and fuel, and continuing to provoke…
Ahead of her inauguration in October 2024, Claudia Sheinbaum has echoed outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s security policies. But widespread organised crime, entrenched corruption, and an ineffective reliance on the military to combat cartels pose challenges to realising sustainable security improvements, writes Shannon Lorimer.
As a Kenyan-led multinational mission enters Haiti to support local police in combatting gang violence, Erin Drake considers what such a mission can realistically achieve amid a host of challenges, including seemingly poor planning, funding uncertainty, and a legacy of failed intervention – not to mention the potential fallout of clashes in densely-populated…
Despite high hopes for Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s Total Peace plan, it has so far failed to reduce fighting between armed groups or limit their territorial expansion. With around a year left in office, Petro seems unlikely to secure a lasting military or financial victory over the country’s insurgent groups, writes Shannon Lorimer.
On 18 April, a police crackdown on student protests at Columbia University in New York kickstarted a wave of demonstrations on campuses across the world calling on universities to sever their ties with Israel amid the Israel-Palestine conflict. The demonstrations have drawn comparisons to protest campaigns in the previous century, which may offer some…