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Jan 9, 2025 | 
csis.org | Christopher Hernandez-Roy |Juliana Rubio |Henry Ziemer |Rubi Bledsoe
Latin America has witnessed some of the homicide rates in the world, largely driven by gang violence and transnational criminal groups. Throughout the Western Hemisphere, states have experimented with many types of security policies; however, one stands out for its political popularity and the frequency with which it is employed—mano dura. Mano dura is defined by experts Lucía Dammert et al.
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Jan 6, 2025 | 
csis.org | Christopher Hernandez-Roy
Like his father before him, following a “walk in the snow,” Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau announced on January 6 that he would resign as prime minister and party leader once the Liberal Party of Canada organizes a leadership race. He convinced Governor General Mary Simon to prorogue (suspend) parliament until March 24 to allow his party time to choose a new leader.
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Oct 28, 2024 | 
csis.org | Ryan Berg |Christopher Hernandez-Roy |Rubi Bledsoe |Henry Ziemer
From October 22–24, 2024, BRICS nations—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—met in the Russian city of Kazan for their highly anticipated yearly summit. While BRICS summits rarely produce groundbreaking final documents, a product of their internal diversity, this summit was notable for several developments. It saw the addition of Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for their first summit.
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Sep 26, 2024 | 
csis.org | Ryan Berg |Christopher Hernandez-Roy
The results of the U.S. presidential election are more likely to affect the United States’ immediate neighbors than countries in other regions.
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Sep 23, 2024 | 
csis.org | Christopher Hernandez-Roy
This commentary is one of a two-part series on China’s role in Western Hemisphere ports; read the other commentary here. Chinese-owned or operated ports in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) have lately been the subject of much discussion in policymaking circles owing to their potential use as intelligence-gathering hubs, control over preferred logistics routes, and potential for military use by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in a crisis or conflict scenario.
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Sep 19, 2024 | 
csis.org | Christopher Hernandez-Roy |Juliana Rubio
The IssueGender-based violence (GBV) in Haiti is a widespread and escalating problem, exacerbated by the country’s deep-rooted gender inequalities, systemic impunity, and political instability. As the political and security crisis in Haiti has deepened in recent years, the use of GBV, particularly sexual violence, has increased as a systematic tool of intimidation and punishment, and ultimately of control.
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Aug 21, 2024 | 
csis.org | Ryan Berg |Christopher Hernandez-Roy
In response to protests against its brazen election theft, the Maduro regime in Venezuela has unleashed a wave of violent repression. While the exact numbers vary, credible human rights organizations have logged nearly 2,000 arrests, some even of minors and young children, and more than two dozen people killed.
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Aug 1, 2024 | 
csis.org | Ryan Berg |Christopher Hernandez-Roy
Venezuela is now living in the post-electoral moment of one of the most brazen thefts in modern Latin American history. Fortunately, the Venezuelan opposition was well prepared for this. In a June 2023 event with CSIS, opposition leader María Corina Machado predicted that if there were elections in Venezuela, “there are only two outcomes: a landslide victory or an obscene fraud.” These words have proven prophetic in recent days, as both of these outcomes have transpired.
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Jul 24, 2024 | 
csis.org | Christopher Hernandez-Roy
The deteriorating conditions for religious freedom in Nicaragua are having a profound effect on Nicaraguan society, and the persecution of members of the clergy of different faiths along with severe limits to the ability of the faithful to worship are only getting worse as the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship descends into totalitarianism. Nicaragua did not become a dictatorship overnight.
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May 14, 2024 | 
csis.org | Ryan Berg |Christopher Hernandez-Roy |Henry Ziemer |Rubi Bledsoe
As domestic challenges to Nicolás Maduro’s regime in Venezuela have mounted, he has doubled down on a compellence strategy against Guyana that is full of escalation risks and potential for miscalculation. Since February 9, when CSIS last reported on Venezuela’s military activities near the Essequibo, Maduro has ordered the Venezuelan military to deploy weapons and equipment and increase its state of readiness on Guyana’s doorstep.
