Security & Strategic Review - April 2022

The US Department of State’s latest International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), published 1 March, outlined major backsliding in coca eradication in Colombia and Peru in 2020.... Read More

After 2021 saw the worst prison violence in Ecuador’s history, efforts are underway to bring the situation back under control – spurred, perhaps, by the release of a highly critical report from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on 17 March.... Read More

The United Nations (UN) special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Diego García-Sayán, described judicial independence in Bolivia as a “pending task” on 22 February.... Read More

As Brazil’s October general election approaches, authorities are particularly preoccupied with how to limit the spread of fake news and the damage it causes to the political debate and quality of democracy.... Read More

A large-scale anti-narcotics and anti-money laundering operation launched by Paraguayan authorities in February has claimed several political scalps and resulted in the seizure of luxury assets worth millions of US dollars.... Read More

It has been a mixed few months for gender rights in Latin America, with notable advances on the one hand, such as the decriminalisation of abortion up to 24 weeks by Colombia’s constitutional court in February, and disheartening setbacks on the other, such as the approval of a restrictive abortion law in Guatemala (although it was ultimately shelved by congress).... Read More

Mexico is in the midst of a migration crisis.... Read More

The cancellation of an educational programme that benefited underprivileged students in Mexico has caused uproar among children’s rights groups, educational organisations and the political opposition.... Read More

The latest annual report by the United Nations (UN) International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), published on 10 March, noted that “cyberspace and cryptocurrencies” were emerging as the “new frontier” for drug trafficking organisations (DTOs) and other criminal groups.... Read More

On 8 March, International Women’s Day, Guatemala’s congress approved a bill (5272) that toughens sanctions for abortion, which is currently only permitted in Guatemala in cases where the woman’s life is at risk.... Read More

On 2 March Costa Rica’s President Carlos Alvarado promulgated a law regulating the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes and the production of hemp.... Read More

On 14 March the European Union (EU) became the latest institution to call on the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) government led by President Daniel Ortega to immediately release all political prisoners and annul all legal proceedings against them.... Read More

The leaders of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) met in Belize for a Heads of Government summit from 1-2 March.... Read More

The deadly shooting on 5 February of a one-year-old Venezuelan migrant by the Trinidad & Tobago (TT) Coast Guard has sharply focused attention on the treatment of migrants.... Read More