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Latin America

Former CIA Station Chief on the Trump Administration’s Caribbean Strategy

Former CIA Station Chief on the Trump Administration’s Caribbean Strategy

EXPERT INTERVIEW — Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced today that the U.S. has carried out three additional strikes on four sea vessels, bringing [...] More

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The Caribbean Emerges as a Test of U.S. Power

The Caribbean Emerges as a Test of U.S. Power

DEEP DIVE — U.S. military forces this week carried out yet another strike on a vessel in Caribbean waters off Venezuela, marking the sixth such [...] More

As Trump Expands Caribbean Strikes on Cartels, Much is Still Unclear

OPINION — “Extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels that the United States has designated as terrorist organizations have wrought devastating [...] More

Expert Q&A: The U.S. Takes On the Mexican Cartels

EXPERT INTERVIEW — The Trump administration is prioritizing going after Mexican drug cartels as a key national security objective. It has designated [...] More

In Hegseth Panama Visit, Reading the 'Untranslated' Comments

OPINION — “Together with Panama in the lead, we will keep the canal secure and available for all nations through the deterrent power of the [...] More

Trump Administration Says Narco-Trafficking is #1 Threat - and Tries All-Hands Approach to Stop It

DEEP DIVE — When the U.S. intelligence community (IC) declared last week that the greatest danger to American national security is old-fashioned [...] More

What's Really Happening at the Panama Canal?

EXPERT INTERVIEWS — The Panama Canal has landed squarely in the national security conversation, thanks to a series of remarks by Donald Trump, who as [...] More

Expert Q&A: A Look at Biden's Last-Minute Cuba Deal

EXPERT INTERVIEW — In one of several eleventh-hour moves, President Joe Biden on Tuesday notified Congress of his intent to remove Cuba from a list [...] More

A Dangerous Moment for Venezuela – and the Region 

EXPERT INTERVIEW — Nicolas Maduro is set to be inaugurated for his third term as president of Venezuela on Friday. He will be sworn in after a [...] More

Memo to the 47th President: Latin America is About More Than Migrants

MEMO TO THE PRESIDENT — Since Donald Trump's victory in the November 5 election, The Cipher Brief has covered the potential implications a second [...] More

To Fight Fentanyl Traffic, U.S. Needs More Than Law Enforcement

Cipher Brief COO Brad Christian spoke with Michael Vigil, former Chief of International Operations at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), [...] More

Can High-Profile Cartel Arrests Halt the Fentanyl Traffic? 

DEEP DIVE — Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, a co-founder and leader of Mexico's notorious Sinaloa Cartel, has entered a not guilty plea to 17 drug [...] More

Brazil and Colombia Should Support Democracy in Venezuela 

OPINION — Absent a last-minute alteration of the electoral calendar by Venezuela’s authoritarian regime, Venezuelans will go to the polls on July 28 [...] More