Latest Articles about Latin America
Jamaat al-Muslimeen: The Growth and Decline of Islamist Militancy in Trinidad and Tobago
On July 27, 2009 Trinidadians marked the nineteenth anniversary of the failed attempt by the Jamaat al-Muslimeen (JAM - Muslim Association, known colloquially as “the Jamaat)” to overthrow the government in Trinidad and Tobago in a violent coup. Although JAM made international headlines in June... MORE
PLAN Officers to Train on Brazilian Aircraft Carrier
In a May 9 interview with Brazilian defense, strategy and intelligence news website Defasanet, Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim stated that Brazil and China had reached an agreement to train personnel from the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in Brazil. In the interview (available in... MORE
China’s Strategy toward Central America: The Costa Rican Nexus
When Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Costa Rica last November and announced that the two countries were initiating free trade talks, it marked the beginning of a new phase in China’s courtship of Central America. Indeed, China’s striking economic growth over the last decade has... MORE
Turkey and Brazil to Explore Oil in the Black Sea
On May 20-23 Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visited Turkey. Bilateral economic ties were an important element on da Silva's agenda, who was accompanied by government ministers and leading businessmen. The visit highlighted the prospects for improving cooperation between the two emerging economies,... MORE
The Panda Hugs the Tucano: China’s Relations with Brazil
Brazil is the largest developing country in the Western Hemisphere, and China is the largest developing country in the world. According to some Western estimates, the combined economies of the BRIC (i.e. Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries would surpass the combined economies of the... MORE
Beijing and Havana: Political Fraternity and Economic Patronage
"History has proved that we [China and Cuba] are worthy of the name of fast friends, good comrades and intimate brothers,” commented Chinese President Hu Jintao on the state of Sino-Cuban bilateral relations during a visit with Cuban President Raul Castro in Havana on November... MORE
Is a “Win-Win” Relationship in the Cards for China and Mexico?
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) says it places high priority on making Mexico an important link in its widely publicized “win-win” expansion into Latin America. This was evident during Vice President Xi Jinping’s February stop-over in Mexico City. In reality, however, after 37 years... MORE
China’s Maturing Relationship with Latin America
The five-nation visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao to Latin America in conjunction with the November 2004 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) summit in Santiago, Chile, marked the beginning of a fundamental transformation in China’s relationship with Latin America. Prior to that trip, the People’s... MORE
Colombia’s FARC and the Basque ETA: Exploring the Tactical and Economic Partnership
A recent Spanish-Colombian counterterrorism investigation has confirmed the previously widespread belief that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia - FARC) and the Basque Homeland and Freedom group (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna - ETA) have enjoyed mutually beneficial logistical and tactical connections.... MORE
Peru’s Sendero Luminoso: From Maoism to Narco-Terrorism
One of the most brutal and destructive terrorist groups worldwide since its emergence in 1980—Peru’s “Shining Path” (Sendero Luminoso - SL) —continues to carry out attacks on Peruvian military, police, and civilian targets in 2008. Almost ten years after the group splintered during a “no-holds... MORE