Latin America

The Cipher Brief spoke to R. Evan Ellis, a professor at the U.S. Army War College, who said that while China does not directly challenge […] More

Unstable, corrupt, plagued by scandal—these describe Brazil’s current economic and political climate, a big transformation from its image of an advancing economy with secure investment […] More

The Cipher Brief discussed the political dynamics of Brazil with Phil Chicola, a former Chargé d’Affaires to Brazil from 2005 to 2006. Chicola discussed the […] More

Optimism is in short supply here in Brazil and for good reason. Consumer confidence is at its lowest level in 10 years; both inflation and […] More

The current fiscal crisis in Brazil is the result of a long period of economic mismanagement by the Workers Party (PT).  Beginning in 2003 with […] More

President Barack Obama continues to pave the way for improved U.S.-Cuban relations, as changes to U.S. travel to and business with Cuba took effect on […] More

Having begun transforming its energy sector, the Mexican government is learning the ups and downs of opening its oil resources to foreign companies.  In July, […] More

Being abducted by gunmen, held for weeks or months in horrific conditions and then forced to pay colossal sums to be freed has been the […] More

The Cipher Brief spoke with retired DEA agent Michael Vigil to discuss the security situation in Mexico. Vigil, who served as DEA’s Chief of International […] More

Being abducted by gunmen, held for weeks or months in horrific conditions and then forced to pay colossal sums to be freed has been the […] More

The Cipher Brief spoke with Francisco Quiñones, the founder of Arcis International, a security, risk management, and crisis response consultancy based in Washington, DC.  Quinones, […] More

The security of U.S. borders has become one of the key issues in the U.S. Presidential race.  Some of the Republican candidates support building a […] More

One of the most controversial companies operating globally may be Uber, and it came under attack most recently on Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro, where […] More

In 1915, the British poet Thomas Hardy wrote a short masterpiece about the sinking of Titanic, which had occurred several years earlier. He describes the […] More

The convergence of ruthless terrorist networks and greedy criminal underworld operatives can pose unique and dangerous challenges. It offers terrorists access to human resources and […] More

The Cipher Brief spoke with the DEA’s former Chief of International Operations, Mike Vigil to discuss the threat of convergence. The Cipher Brief: Convergence is […] More

Violent crime is rising in Brazil and, if past trends hold true, that could be bad for the business community during a time when the […] More

On July 20th, the U.S. and Cuba exchanged diplomatic notes and opened embassies in their respective capitals.  This “normalization” was a big step for relations […] More