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Welcome to the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung's Latin American Network for Inclusive Security

The reports from the Munich Security Conference are a baseline on the state of international security. In 2023, their annual report highlights that the war in Ukraine has transformed theoretical debates on international security. The report underlines the complexity of the confrontation between liberal democracies and the so-called revisionist autocrats. But it also notes that, in the quest for the future of international order, democracies should consider the legitimate criticisms and concerns that have become evident in countries from the South.

Jorge Heine points out that the positions of CELAC and of Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico regarding this crisis reflect a growing consensus in the Global South according to which the current international order does not reflect their interests, and therefore the appeals to defend it are not echoed in the South.

The possibilities for Latin America and the Caribbean to have a common policy of active non-alignment are analyzed by Mariano Aguirre.

In this context, and especially in relation to Ukraine, conflict resolution options such as international mediation have tended to be relegated. This recent report reviews the state of the art of this practice that has been consolidated as part of non-traditional diplomacy to contribute to crisis resolution.

Lula's new government must face the challenge of reversing the isolation and international and regional discredit that have marked Brazilian foreign policy over the past four years. As Hirst and Tokatlian point out, it must do so during a time of crisis and transformation that opens up possibilities for defining international policy pathways that simultaneously imply opportunity and risk.

For its part, CONECTAS highlights two measures adopted by the new government, of an internal nature but of great relevance, such as the reestablishment of the Amazon Fund and arms control.

In light of the new international scenario and the crisis posed by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, this article argues that it is time to rebuild the relationship between Brazil and Argentina. Presidents Lula and Alberto Fernández argue here for relaunching the strategic alliance. 



In concrete terms, Arslanian Neto, Brazil's Secretary of the Americas, explains the binational agreement on Antarctic Cooperation signed by both countries on January 23.  

This Americas Quarterly text raises the possibility of Peru facing its "Constitutional Moment". Protests will continue. However, it will be difficult for them to provoke significant institutional reforms as they lack channels to the institutions, and the Boluarte government seems to have struck a pact with Congress to maintain power as long as possible. 

Elvira Cuadra analyzes why Daniel Ortega has decided to release and banish the political prisoners held in jails. She points out that it is the move of an authoritarian government that feels enclosed and seeks some form of international normalization.

Latin America is the most violent region in the world, especially when considering the homicide rate. Although it is not the only factor, the existence of strong criminal organizations, capable of using violence against the State and controlling territories and populations, is an important reason behind insecurity.

The new report Crimen Organizado en América Latina (Organized Crime in Latin America), by Juan Albarracín, shows that organized crime is only possible with the tolerance and cooperation of state agents related to security and intelligence forces. Therefore, public policies against state impunity are key to confronting it.

Colombia has been a -failed - laboratory for the global crusade against illicit drugs. The "total peace" proposed by Gustavo Petro's government will only be possible, argues Juan G. Tokatlian, if this issue is approached from a different framework, one of regulation and legalization of drugs, to avoid the reproduction of violence.

Catalina Niño, Network member and FES project coordinator in Colombia, participated in a GIGA Forum on the failure of the war on drugs and spoke about the changes that have taken place in Latin America regarding the discourse on drugs, the factors that have led to these changes, the alternatives for more effective and less harmful policies, and the possibilities for transformations in the international arena.

In this report, Marcos Robledo details the consequences of the prolonged militarization of public security and the expansion of the roles and prerogatives of the armed forces in Latin America. The author indicates that the region has entered a stage of growing civilian militarism.

Facing a public security crisis and weak States, Latin American political elites have opted for the militarization of police functions due to their greater acceptance and despite their scarce -and sometimes counterproductive- impact on public security. This colloquium analyzes the role of the armed forces in the migration crisis in Chile.

In her book Rupturas presidenciales (Presidential ruptures), María Belén Garrido discusses the actions of the security forces in response to non-violent movements in Ecuador in 1997, 2000 and 2005. In that country, numerous organizations supported by FES Ecuador have created the Alianza Contra las Prisiones (Alliance Against Prisons), a group critical of the normalization of penitentiary punishment as a form of practicing justice. Their website contains a repository of information that is key to understand the prison crisis in Ecuador and the proposals that can be put forward in order to find a solution from the standpoint of social justice.

This article analyzes the involvement of Latin American elites in processes of political violence, and how this violence and impunity, operate as key mechanisms for the reproduction of these elites and are functional for their accumulation of status and wealth.

Precisely, the relationship between human rights and social protest is the subject of analysis in the latest volume of the Deusto Journal on Human Rights collection, with papers in English and Spanish on Colombia, Chile, and Argentina, among other cases.  

Two recently published yearbooks address different aspects of the Latin American reality. The first, by the Carolina Foundation América Latina: Transiciones ¿hacia dónde? (Latin America: Transitions, where to?) addresses the region's role in the international order and matters such as security and violence, gender and the women's agenda, social protest, human mobility, and climate change. The second, by the SEIPAZ Foundation, analyzes the keys to the new scenario that is opening up in the region, with matters such as political volatility, human security or its role in the struggle between global superpowers.

Humanas Colombia's latest bulletin, Paz con Mujeres (Peace with Women), analyzes the eleven-volume report of the Truth Commission. One of the volumes, entitled Mi cuerpo es la verdad (My Body is the Truth), includes twelve recommendations for the non-repetition of the events suffered by women in the armed conflict.



In this paper, in both Spanish and English, along the lines of critical studies on migration and border control regimes, the authors find that, as in the countries of the global north, the expulsion of migrants in Argentina is masculinized. They argue that it is essential to address the gendered nature of migration control in a way that considers the differential effects on men, women, and other gender identities.

The latest annual report from Doctors without Borders (MSF by its French acronym) and the Institute of Studies on Conflicts and Humanitarian Action (IECAH by its Spanish acronym) explores the situation of humanitarian crises in the world and the responses to them. In 2022, the gap between needs and resources continued to widen, leaving more and more populations without adequate assistance and protection. The double standards applied to numerous crisis situations, with Ukraine as the greatest exponent of unequal responses, have worsened. Of all the funds requested by the United Nations in 2021 to address the consequences of crises, barely half were actually raised.

How to rebuild trust is one of the great challenges in building sustainable peace in countries emerging out of conflict. In this series of roundtables organized by the Violence, Security, and Peace (VSP) Network, composed by British and American institutions, key elements such as violence, security, peace, and trust in fragile contexts are discussed.

The second meeting of the Group on Climate Security in Latin America (Grupo sobre Seguridad Climática en América Latina), an initiative of FES and SIPRI that brings together people from 10 countries in the region to discuss the links between security, environmental degradation, and the climate crisis, was held in early February in Bogota.

In April, the Regional Institute on the Study and Practice of Strategic Nonviolent Action in the Americas (Ecuador) is organizing a new edition of the course "El poder de la gente: la dinámica estratégica de la resistencia no violenta” (People Power: The Strategic Dynamics of Nonviolent Resistance). Registrations can be made here. You can also listen to the podcasts of this center regarding strategies of nonviolent action in several countries of the region.

The latest newsletter of the Latin American Research Network on the United States (Red Latinoamericana de Investigación sobre Estados Unidos [RELEU]) presents a series of resources on Washington's relations with the region, the war in Ukraine, and other peace and security issues.



The Annual Congress of the Mexican International Studies Association will be held in October 2023.

Newsletter of the Latin American Network for Inclusive Security

Edited by Mariano Aguirre and Mabel González Bustelo

Translated by Yenni Castro (Valestra Editorial)

More information: MariaAlejandra.Rico@fes.de

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