security issues latin america

Security in Latin America:local and regional issues in a global

perspective

Pablo Andrés Rivero

Rīga, 16th December 2010

Latin AmericaSpanish colonial heritage

Mariachis - Mexico

Cartagena - Colombia

Brazilian beach

Tango - Argentina

Latin America: fun and

exciting

But…

Harry Truman, 33rd President of the US

National SecurityUnited States launches the doctrine to reaffirm its hegemony in the Region

“I'd rather die standing than live forever kneeling”Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara

Coup d'états and consequent dictatorships in Latin America

National Security:

Ideological disputes

Return of democracy

Between 1980s and 1990s, all Latin American countries went back to democratically elected governments

Regional threats

Murder rate in the world (UNODC report 2010)

Military spending by GDP

Source: Google Public Data based on World Bank data, 2009

“War on drugs”, more than speeches, a daily basis issue for Latin Americans

Photo: Reuters pictures

Cocaine routes

US

Russia

Iran

conclusions

Ben Zala: “There is a growing consensus amongst many analysts and grass roots organisations that approaches to national, regional and international security are deeply flawed, and are distracting the world’s politicians from developing realistic and sustainable solutions to the non-traditional threats facing the world”.

Thank you!

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