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 of […] More
Latin America
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 […] 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 Trump […] 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), about the arrests of Sinaloa […] More
The Latest
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 trafficking […] 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 either to elect […] More
High Stakes for Venezuela – and U.S. – in Crucial Vote
SUBSCRIBER+ EXCLUSIVE REPORTING — On July 28, Venezuela’s authoritarian President, Nicolás Maduro, will face his most formidable electoral challenge since assuming office following the death of […] More
A Thousand Kenyan Police are Headed to Haiti Where “Gangs Rule”
SUBSCRIBER+REPORTING — After a long wait and amid a rapidly deteriorating security situation, Haiti may soon be getting an international security force. Officials in Kenya, […] More
Hezbollah is Operating in Latin America. What does that mean for the U.S.?
SUBSCRIBER+REPORTING — The United States this month, announced a fresh slate of sanctions on a family nexus of seven Hezbollah operatives and bankrollers spanning Lebanon to Latin […] More
A Post-Mortem on the Summit of the Americas
OPINION — U.S. – Latin American relations face rocky times. Events during and surrounding the just concluded Summit of the Americas (SOA), a meeting of […] More
Venezuela’s Converging Crisis
ACADEMIC INCUBATOR — A stronger, safer Latin America is in the U.S. best security interests; however, many countries within the region are deeply mired in […] More
What Protests Tell Us About Democracy in Latin America
OPINION — Instability in Latin America fuels refugee flows, inflation and criminal activity, all of which affect U.S. interests. The Biden Administration’s virtual summit on […] More
Why Should the U.S. Care about a renewed Iran-Venezuela Relationship?
Earlier this Spring, an oil tanker from Iran arrived in Venezuela with a much-needed delivery, despite the fact that both nations are under US sanctions. […] More
OSINT Global Trendline Report: COVID and the Americas
The Cipher Brief’s Open Source Trend Line Report utilizes open source data on a quarterly basis to track trends around the world that impact national and global […] More
Protests Continue to Destabilize Colombia
Bottom Line Up Front Protests in Colombia, South America’s oldest democracy, have been relatively under reported upon in the international media. The protesters are […] More
OSINT Global Trendline Report
The Cipher Brief’s Open Source Trend Line Report utilizes open source data on a quarterly basis to track trends around the world that impact national […] More
The Staggering Scale of the Venezuelan Refugee Crisis
Bottom Line Up Front At the end of 2019, more than 16% of Venezuela’s population have fled the country, an astonishing 4.7 million people. […] More
A 2020 U.S. Strategy for Latin America
Patrick Duddy served as the U.S. ambassador to Venezuela from 2007 to 2010. He is now teaches at Duke University where he is also the […] More
Colombia Facing Growing Wave of Popular Protests
Bottom Line Up Front The protests in Colombia are driven by myriad issues—corruption, stagnant wages, grievances related to human rights, and a stalled peace […] More