Tag: narco wars

The Andes
ELN

Colombia: Petro approves rebel-requested inquiry

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he would accept a proposal from the country’s largest remaining rebel group to allow an independent commission to investigate its alleged links to drug trafficking. Antonio GarcĂ­a, leader of the National Liberation Army (ELN), released a video stating that although the group collects taxes from cocaine producers in its territory, it does not itself operate drug trafficking networks or cocaine production facilities. (Photo: Colombia Reports)

Africa
SANDF

South Africa deploys military against gangs, illegal mining

During the annual State of the Nation address, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the deployment of military troops to support police efforts against illegal mining and gang violence in the provinces of Gauteng and Western Cape. South Africa has for years struggled with gang violence and illegal mining, which are now said to threaten the country’s stability. The government has intensified efforts to combat the surge in violence by implementing targeted strategies and measures, such as creating specialized police units, but these have proved ineffectual. (Photo: Wesley Nitsckie via Wikipedia)

Central America
Costa Rica

Costa Rica emulates Salvador police state model

The right-wing populist Laura Fernández will be Costa Rica’s next president, securing nearly 50% of the vote in last week’s election. She is the first candidate in more than a decade to clear the threshold needed to win outright in the first round. She did so by promising to respond forcefully to the country’s exaggerated yet real insecurity crisis linked to the drug trade—the overwhelming concern for most voters. On the campaign trail, Fernández drew openly from the playbook of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, whose brutal anti-gang crackdown has inspired conservatives across the region. She called for a “state of exception” to combat crime, promised to complete the construction of a massive Bukele-inspired prison, and spoke with Bukele before any other foreign leader after her win. (Image: Grunge Love)

The Caribbean
USS Gerald Ford

Amnesty International condemns Trump’s attack on Venezuela

Amnesty International condemned both the January attack by the US military on Venezuela and the abuses committed by the ousted Maduro government. Amnesty said that the US capture of President Nicolás Maduro was an unlawful use of force and violated multiple articles of the UN Charter. Acknowledging the long legacy of grave abuses by the Maduro regime, Amnesty’s secretary general Agnès Callamard said: “Crimes against humanity do not end with Maduro’s removal… The fate and whereabouts of many people subjected to enforced disappearance remain unresolved. The state machinery responsible for those crimes is still firmly in place, now supported by the US authorities’ involvement… The US administration’s actions currently make the prospect of any potential justice proceedings concerning Nicolás Maduro much more challenging and complex.” (Photo: USS Gerald R. Ford. Credit: US Navy via Wikimedia Commons)

The Amazon
IBAMA

Cross-border crackdown on Amazon gold mining

Police and prosecutors from Brazil, Guyana, French Guiana and Suriname announced the arrest of nearly 200 individuals in a transnational operation to combat illegal gold mining in the Amazon. Backed by Interpol, the European Union, and Dutch police specializing in environmental crime, “Operation Guyana Shield” involved over 24,500 checks on people and vehicles across remote border areas. Officers seized large quantities of cash, unprocessed gold, and mercury, as well as firearms, drugs and mining equipment. Authorities said organized crime networks behind these operations are linked to a major Guyanese gold exporting firm. The operation signals a new enforcement posture, marked by cross-border collaboration to disrupt transnational networks that evade jurisdictional boundaries and exploit enforcement gaps across the Amazon border region. (Photo: IBAMA via Flickr)

Planet Watch
executions

UN condemns ‘alarming’ global increase in executions

The UN Human Rights Office raised concern over a “sharp hike” in the number of executions globally in 2025. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker TĂĽrk said his office “monitored an alarming increase in the use of the capital punishment in 2025, especially for offences not meeting the ‘most serious crimes’ threshold required under international law, the continued execution of people convicted of crimes committed as children, as well as persistent secrecy around executions.” The increase primarily came from executions for drug-related offenses in a small number of retentionist states. These are countries that continue to retain capital punishment, as opposed to the growing number of abolitionist states. which do not employ the death penalty. (Photo: ICHRI)

Central America
Guatemala

Guatemala declares national emergency

Guatemalan President Bernardo ArĂ©valo declared a 30-day nationwide “state of siege” following a spree of gang violence that left nine police officers dead in the nation’s capital. The declaration was made unilaterally and currently awaits congressional approval. However, it will remain in place until a decision is reached. The recent killings are believed to be gang retaliation for state authorities retaking gang-controlled areas of three maximum-security prisons. The facilities had been taken over in a series of riots that saw over 40 guards taken hostage. The riots were reportedly a response to incarcerated gang members losing certain privileges in prison. (Image: Freestock via Flickr)

Syria
syria

Multiple foreign powers still bombing Syria

The Pentagon said US and allied forces carried out a wave of air-strikes against ISIS targets across Syria, although accounts were unclear as to which other countries were involved or what casualties resulted. The raids came as part of Operation Hawkeye Strike, launched in response to the deadly ISIS attack on US and Syrian forces in Palmyra last month. The past week also saw joint British and French strikes on supposed ISIS targets near Palmyra. And Jordan carried out strikes supposedly targeting drug traffickers in Syrian territory. Turkey’s Defense Ministry meanwhile said it stands ready to help Syria’s interim government in its ongoing “counter-terrorism” operation against Kurdish fighters in Aleppo. (Image: Pixabay)

Watching the Shadows
Aegis

‘Donroe Doctrine’ threatens hemisphere

As Nicolás Maduro appeared in federal court in New York, Trump made explicit military threats against Colombia, Mexico, Cuba and Greenland—prompting protests from those countries’ leaders. In defense of his bellicosity, Trump invoked the notion of Latin America as a US influence sphere that was articulated in his recent National Security Strategy, calling it the “Donroe Doctrine.” (Photo: US Navy via Latin America Reports)

The Andes
Venezuela

Trump announces plan to ‘run’ Venezuela

Trump announced that the US would “run” Venezuela, following a strike on the country that led to the capture and transfer to the US of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, First Lady Cilia Flores. In a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump emphasized the recent decline of Venezuela’s oil industry, stating that US oil companies would spend billions to repair the country’s infrastructure and bring in foreign exchange. Claiming to be acting in the interest of bringing “peace, liberty and justice for the great people of Venezuela,” he added that the US would be prepared to “stage a second and larger attack” if necessary. Maduro’s vice president Delcy Rodriguez, now sworn in as interim president, has offered no indication of acquiescence in Trump’s plans. (Map: Perry-Castañeda Library)

The Caribbean
Bella

China condemns US seizure of Venezuela-linked tankers

Chinese officials condemned the US seizure of oil tankers headed from Venezuelan ports, calling the acts a “serious violation of international law.” The protest came days after US troops boarded and seized the Panama-flagged tanker Centuries. According to the White House, while the ship was not on the US Treasury’s sanctioned vessel list, it carried state-owned oil as part of Venezuela’s “shadow fleet.” Reports have indicated that the Centuries was headed for China. Days earlier, the US seized the M/T Skipper, which the Justice Department claimed was “being used in an oil shipping network supporting Hizballah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force,” two US-designated “foreign terrorist organizations.” (Photo: VesselFinder)

Southern Cone
Chile

Chile’s turn to the hard right

The rising wave of far-right populism has arrived in Chile with the victory in the presidential race of José Antonio Kast, an ultra-conservative who campaigned on fighting crime and carrying out mass deportations. Emulating Donald Trump, Kast exploited a backlash against migrants—especially Venezuelans—and pledged to build a separation wall on the border with Peru. His victory marks the country’s sharpest shift to the right since the restoration of democracy after the brutal dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet 30 years ago—an era and figure that Kast has openly admired. (Image: Nicolas Raymond via Flickr)