Security & Strategic Review - September 2025

The guilty verdict that was passed upon Colombia’s former president Álvaro Uribe (2002-2010) on 28 July was one of the most anticipated in the country’s recent history, and has been met with drastically differing responses on the left and right.... Read More

Tensions have been rising between Peru’s government and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR), and President Dina Boluarte’s administration now appears to be seriously considering withdrawing from the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights which the court is tasked with upholding.... Read More

Security issues did not receive much attention ahead of the 17 August first round of Bolivia’s general election, which produced a crushing defeat for the ruling left-wing Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS).... Read More

Satellite monitoring data from Brazil’s national space research institute (Inpe) has shown that the area affected by deforestation in the Amazon rainforest in the August 2024-July 2025 monitoring cycle increased by 4% compared to the same period in 2023-2024.... Read More

The annual crime report by Brazilian think tank Fórum Brasileiro de Segurança Pública (FBSP) published on 24 July showed that the downward trend in recent years in crime categories such as violent killings and robberies and thefts continued in 2024.... Read More

Authorities are investigating the cause of a contaminated batch of medical fentanyl, which as of late August, is estimated to have resulted in nearly a hundred deaths this year.... Read More

Chile’s leftist government led by President Gabriel Boric has officially launched the process to expropriate land that was once a site used for detention and torture during the military dictatorship led by General Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990).... Read More

Mexico is upping its fight against extortion.... Read More

The government of Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum has set its sights on combatting fuel theft, known as huachicoleo.... Read More

On 12 August Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum led the inauguration of the 16th regional conference on women of Latin America and the Caribbean, which was held in Mexico City (CDMX) from 12-15 August.... Read More

In his latest attempt to expand his political power, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has succeeded in abolishing presidential term limits in the country.... Read More

Despite the resolution of a recent crisis in Honduras’ national electoral council (CNE), there are continuing concerns around general elections scheduled for 30 November following chaotic primaries in March and an uptick in electoral violence.... Read More

The Dominican Republic’s President Luis Abinader has taken the bold decision to promulgate a new penal code that by his own admission is not perfect and could have been better.... Read More

The outgoing humanitarian coordinator for Haiti at the United Nations (UN), Ulrika Richardson, was reported on 12 August as describing the situation that she was leaving behind in Haiti as “strikingly horrific”.... Read More