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By Pablo Andrés Rivero

www.pabloarivero.com

m‘ ntroduction
m‘ Background: How is it ³Security´ being understood in Latin America?
m‘ ³Hard´ ssues: (15 min)
ԑ Playing the global geopolitical game: µpink revolutions¶, the relations with US,
and otheractors: Russia and ran.
ԑ ^oca and Drugs trafficking issues
ԑ Poverty and exclusion
ԑ ºass ºigration and nsecurity: daily violence
m‘ ^onclusion and discussions




Geographically speaking Latin America boundariesstarts in the deserts of northern ºexico going
all the way south up to the glaciers of far south in Argentina and ^hile or á
á. However, it
is more accurately defined by culture and historic heritage resulting from the three-century
European colonisation (Spanish, Portuguese, and French in a very small proportion) resulting
inracial mix between different indigenous groups, black-African brought as slaves and European
descendent; the subsequent independence period in the Nineteenth ^entury and the consolidation
of twenty nation-states that today are part of Latin America.

From the µRealPolitik¶ perspective, Latin America could be seen as a peaceful region especially
after the Second World War.n fact, some interstate armed conflicts happened in modern history,
mainly as a result of the quest to consolidate territory and sovereignty. ºoreover, almost all
these conflicts occurred between the mid-nineteenth century and the mid-twentieth century.

However, as Ben Zala from the Oxford Research Group argues: ³Like many parts of the global
south, [Latin America] is the region where [ºax Weber] notion of the modern sovereign state
holding a monopoly over thelegitimate use of force is simply don¶t necessarily translate into
political reality.´

n spite of the fact that practically all governments are democratically elected, Latin America is
far for claim being a peaceful region. Adopting a broad perspective, drug production and
trafficking, kidnapping, street gangs, civil wars, guerrilla conflicts, crime, extreme poverty,
inequality, and so on areimpacting decidedly in the security matters of the region.

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ühere are three guiding questions  propose to discuss today: How is it ³Security´ being
understood in Latin America?What are the threats in Latin America?What are latent or actually
real conflicts in Latin America from a global perspective?

t is important to highlight that this paper does not attempt to deal with the whole region, in fact
will mainly focus on the Andean Region, some key issues and briefly will attempt to link them
with the situation in other countries such as Brazil, ºexico or Argentina, to mention just a few.

3Ê
  

 



 do not intent here to address in depth theoretical debate about conceptualisations on security,
defence, threat, and so on. nstead,  am interested in exploring some practical aspects and
current issues happening in the Region. However, it is important to highlight some
conceptualisations of security mainly linked to the historical contexts in which were adopted or
challenged.

 propose to start locating ourselves on the  World War perspective. ühe concept of security for
this period in Latin America was predominately influenced, as Dr. Beatriz Ramacciotti argues,
by the idea of 

 Ê
, understood as defence of sovereignty in a territory, or secure
the internal order of a State, in which army, intelligence and Diplomatic service are the primary
forms of response.

ºoreover, during the ^old War, 


 Ê
 was developed towards a military doctrine
for controlling political enemies. ühis is the period in which dictatorships ruled throughout the
region along with evidently support of the US government security institutions such as ^A and
the Pentagon. Security forces (ºilitary and police) engaged in indiscriminate arrests and
detention, torture and killings. ühis is the period as well of systematic response of leftist-guerrilla
groups in many countries of the Region. 1959 ^uban revolution is perhaps the most outstanding
icon, along with a countless number of movements such as: ºontoneros in Argentina and
Uruguay, ³Sandinistas´ in Nicaragua, Farabundoºartí Revolutionary Army in El Salvador,
FAR^ and ELN in ^olombia, Shining Path in Peru and so on.

ühe end of the cold war brought a change in this approach to security, as in every aspect of
international relations in the world. ühus, the concept of 
 Ê
 arose proposing a
different approach[quoting Ramacciotti]³rather than protect the state and institutions from
external threats, focuses on the safety of persons and the protection of personal assets from actual
physical aggression by others or other sources of threats like crime, violence, terrorism and
public and private domestic institutions characterized by incompetence, corruption and impunity.´
(Ramacciotti, 2005).

ühe concept of 3
 
arosein 2001 as a new paradigm meeting complementarily the
traditional concepts of security along with the range of new threats to people (Ramacciotti, 2005).
However, the events known as S-11 diverted drastically the security approach in the Region

å
turning toward redoubling efforts to collectively deal with terrorist in all facets (money
laundering, financing, training, and so on). ühe striking point in our historic-conceptual review is
that the principles of National Security were brought back

After the nter-American ^onvention Against üerrorism of Bridgetown (Barbados) in 2002 and
the Organization of American States Special ^onference of ºexico ^ity in October 2003, the
concept of  
 
 is attempting to deal with the issue from a very broad
perspective. ühis approach include intra-state insurgencies; drug-trafficking; terrorism; illegal
migration; human trafficking; health risks; natural disasters, violation of human rights; extreme
poverty and inequality; smuggling of goods; trafficking of arms; among others (Ramacciotti,
2005).



  





 



t would be too ambitious attempting to discuss all aspects concerning Security in Latin America,
either in a historic retrospective or a current perspective. üherefore,  will go through the
contemporary issues consider by myself as the more relevant concerning the relationship of the
region with Europe, namely:

ԑ Poverty and exclusion

ԑ ^oca and Drugs trafficking issues

ԑ ºass ºigration and nsecurity: daily violence

ԑ ühe relations with the US government, the so-called µpink revolutions¶, and otheractors:
Russia and ran.
An important caveat to be underline is that these four issues are not disaggregated from each
other, in most of the cases are transversal to the regional security. However, methodological
reasons lead me to present them in separate chapters.
t is important to understand firstly the conditions in which Latin American political and security
issues take place. ühese issues are interrelated, have very complex socioeconomic roots and real
solutions are cannot be easily spotted. Furthermore, these conditions are undermining the
regional stability in the middle-long term and threatening democracy in the region, as recent
UNDP report, [ 


 underlines.
1.‘ According to UNDP Human Development Report, Latin America is the most unequal region
in the world. 80% of wealth belongs to 5% of richest populations, whereas the remaining
20% of wealth is distributed along the 95% of the population. ühus, in simple words,
economic growth does not necessarily impacts in everybody¶s pocket.
2.‘ n a short period of time, distribution of population has shifted from rural to predominately
urban. ^ities, in practically all countries, with a very few exceptions, were not prepared for
such shifts. ühus, unemployment, weak social security systems, very poor basic
infrastructure, and so on have led to uncontrolled crime, murders, gangs, drug trafficking and
more, especially lo stressed in peripheral urban areas: exemplifying: ³^anada (1.6) has the

†
 lowest homicide rate in the hemisphere, comparable to Western Europe (1.4). Peru (3.8) is
not far behind. Several other countries ± Argentina (5.7), ^hile (8.5), ^osta Rica (7.6), ^uba
(6.2) and Uruguay (5.5) ± have homicide rates that are comparable to that of the United
States (5.6).
ºexico (11), Panama (11.6), Nicaragua (13.2), Bolivia (14.9), Paraguay (16), Ecuador (17.9)
and the Dominican Republic (18.1) ± are notably more violent than the United States but still
more pacific than, say, Russia (19.9).
A final set of countries exhibit fairly extreme levels of violence ± Haiti (21.6), Brazil (26.6),
Guatemala (36.4), Honduras (39.2), Venezuela (40), ^olombia (50.4), and Jamaica (51.6). El
Salvador (59) has one of the highest reported homicide rates in the world, edging out South
Africa (47.5) and Lesotho (50.7)´ (Boniface, 2010).
Security forces, called police or military police, fail in providing equal and event safety to
population. ühus, it is worrying common that shanty towns or even low-middle class
neighbours have parallel security mechanisms, sometimes led by gangs or mafias.
3.‘ ºass migration is another consequence to take into account in a global perspective: within
the region, the destinies are mainly Argentina and Brazil for South Americans as well as to
Europe (Spain and taly, mainly), whereas ^entral Americans and ºexicans target the US
(mainly southern States).
4.‘ ühe conditions described before are µperfect ground¶ for drug and human trafficking, two of
the biggest issues undermining governments¶ stability and societies¶ cohesion.


 

^ocaine and marihuana are the drugs mainly produced, distributed, commercialised and
consumed in Latin America. üheir markets are the US and Europe, preferably, but increasingly
now Southern Asia, Japan, New Zeeland and Australia. n fact, Acoording to UNOD^ 2010
report, 98% of the cocaine illegally produced and consumed in the world comes from these
Andean nations: ^olombia, Perú and Bolivia.
Drug trafficking goes beyond simply crime; it is a socioeconomic phenomenon eroding
economies, threatening social development and generating violence in everyday life around the
Region. t is also matching with mafias activities that produce destabilisation at international
level.
ühe business is very difficult to be quantified, but cocaine trafficking reports around $us 40
billion only in the US market. But its economy goes also beyond the formal crime, the coca
leaves, raw material for the production of cocaine hydrochloride, it¶s a legal a cultural activity in
the Southern Andes, in particular in Bolivia, eastern Peru, and northern Argentina. ^oca has
ideological and political implications in current international affairs mainly led by Bolivian
president Evo ºorales leader of coca growers union.

Something to underline is that coca, in its natural stage, is legal only in Bolivia, Peru and few
parts of Argentina. Although ^olombian and Ecuadorian indigenous peoples have claimed also
cultural ties to the plant, their governments do not allow any legal production, commercialisation
or consumption.

â
US
t could be argued that since the end of the XX century, every issue concerning Latin America
security has something to do, to a great or small extend of interest or responsibility, with the
United States government.
Since the application of üruman¶s National Security approach during the ^old War, direct
intervention on Latin American political dynamics has been the general practise by the US
government.
Four particular threats are constantly µmonitored¶ by US security agencies and normally set up
the international agenda with Latin American countries: Drug trafficking, terrorism, ideological
differences and immigration.

American Government has openly three allies in the region: ^olombia, Panama and ^osta Rica,
with strong influence over security issues in the first one. However, with the exception of
Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Bolivia, it is difficult to claim that other country is hostile to
them. ühus, its leading position in the Region remains powerful.

Ben Zala: At the end of the first decade of the µglobal war on terror¶, the region has played a
marginal role in the conflict and its flashpoints in raq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Even in the
debates and developments in what has been termed the µregionalisation¶ of global politics,
Europe and Southeast Asia have absorbed the focus with discussion of Latin America and the
^aribbean acting more as an afterthought than a key point of analysis. Yet this is unlikely to
remain the case for long. n a region where poverty, militarism and environmental limits are
coalescing, Latin America and the ^aribbean is becoming a testing ground for responding to
security challenges that are increasingly global in nature.

M           


  
  


 


 
  




 
 

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ühe Euro-Asian country is mainly providing military assistance to strategic allies: the countries
under leading the so-called ³pink revolutions´.So far, Russia has strengthen ties with Venezuela,
Brazil and Bolivia (to some extend with Ecuador as well).

Relationship based on arms sales, military assistance on the so-called ³war on drugs´, due to
^A and DEA expel from Bolivia and Venezuela.

¦


ühis Asian country arose as a geopolitical ally against the US hegemony in the Region. t is
deploying important amount of money for military assistance, diplomatic exchange (sponsoring
schools and hospitals in Bolivia and Ecuador) as well as exploring energy resources in the region.

t has been particularly spotted the newly announcement of Bolivian government of choosing
ran as strategic partnership in the Lithium business. Bolivia has one of the largest reserves in the
world this resource in its territory, yet not completely quantified by estimated to be bigger than
the reserves found by Americans in Afghanistan.

Pink Revolutions:

ühis process is decidedly led by Venezuelan president, Hugo ^havez. ühe term has been
proposes by Hufftington Post journalist Nikolas Kozloff. t refers to a ³red´ revolution but in a
rather soften mode.

t could be considered ideologically radical, politically it sometimes becomes threatening for

US ± European interests, but economically relies and acts within global capitalism.

ts main features could be summarised as:

ԑ ^onstitutional shift toward left, in which indigenous, and poorer people access to
spaces in power and get benefits from the State, mainly by bonuses and grants
financed by countries revenues coming from commodities, strategic resources such as
oil and gas, and raw materials.
ԑ Boosted by circumstantial fantastic performance of this goods in the international
markets.

^


Difficult to conclude but  propose wrap up some aspects:

Ramacciottiproposes that matching the ë  
  
 and the   


 


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Environmental issues are happening with higher both impact and frequency in the region.
Vulnerability of large population and precarious infrastructure make natural disasters¶ impact
another threat to Latin American countries.

Zala: ³Environmental stresses and levels of marginalisation add to this sense of pervasive
insecurity. For example, the region is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. [«]
Latin America and the ^aribbean is a region of high levels of poverty and is considered to have
some of the highest levels of socio-economic inequality in the world.´

Ë
Zala: ³ühere 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´.

Region is not prepared and disasters and corroding food chain, economy, democracy and security
alike.

Violence and crime, the same, something directly linked to drug trafficking.

  


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According to UNOD^ report, ³About 3 million Latin Americans are smuggled illegally across
that border every year. Since 90 per cent of them are assisted by smugglers, the total income for
the smugglers is likely to be around 6.6 billion dollars per year. Some 88 per cent of the 792,000
illegal migrants apprehended in 2008 were ºexican nationals; almost all the rest were other
Latin Americans.´1

³there is a lack of quantitative knowledge about other potentially important trends such as the
phenomenon of migrant smuggling from Latin America and Asia.´ (UNOD^, 2010: 22)

³While the intra-regional migration in Latin America has continuously declined, there has been a
spectacular increase of migration towards to the United States. As previously mentioned, there
has been a great increase in migrants smuggled to the United States, in particular from the
following four countries: Honduras, Brazil, El Salvador, and Guatemala.´ (UNOD^, 2010: 35)

³Although migration to Europe from Latin America has grown rapidly over the last decade, there
is still a critical lack of research about that phenomenon´ (UNOD^, 2010: 36)

³n a comprehensive study about irregular migration from Latin America to Europe, Pellegrino2
held that most of the flows are directed towards southern European countries, although other
European countries have also seen significant increases. Poverty and economic hardship caused
by the recession in Latin America, together with the tightening of visa regimes in the United
States after 11 September 2001, have been a major contributing cause of increased flows.´
(UNOD^, 2010: 36)

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³Whilst according to the 2004 Oº report on migration from Latin America to Europe, the
majority of migrants are women with a fairly solid educational background, the report does not
include any specifics about smuggled migrants.´ (UNOD^, 2010: 63)

³Sources reviewed reveal a substantial lack of comprehensive research about the organizational
structures of smuggling networks in Latin America, with the exception of ºexico.´ (UNOD^,
2010: 92)

ühere is a widespread feeling among citizens that the ³democratic institutions´ are not protecting
their lives, safeguarding their day-to-day activities or securing their property. n this sense, this
perception undermines democracy, in a phenomenon that some analysts describe as ³low
intensity democracy´ (Ramacciotti, 2005: 5).

º  º



³Since President Felipe ^alderon launched an offensive against drug cartels in December 2006 it
is estimated that drug-related violence has claimed as many as 23,000 lives. ^iudad Juarez, a
northern border city of approximately 1.5 million people, had more than 2,500 murders in 2009
alone (476 in September). With a horrifying homicide rate of 173 per 100,000, it is one of the
deadliest cities in the world´ (Boniface, 2010).



 

UNOD^ Report (b)

³ühe effects on security of transnational crime, and of drug trafficking in particular, can be
catastrophic. ºost illicit drugs are sourced in conflict-ridden regions in Asia and Latin America,
where they undermine development, damage the environment and also fund and thus perpetuate
insurgency and, in some places, terrorism´ [«] ³West Africa is a recent case in point. ühis
region has become a key transit hub for cocaine smuggled from Latin America to serve a
booming market in Europe. Operating largely with impunity, drug traffickers are breeding
widespread corruption and threatening security in the region´ (UNOD^, 2010b: 27).

³West Africa serves as a transit point between Latin America and Europe for US$ 1 billion-
worth in cocaine´ (UNOD^, 2010b: 31).

Women on power:

n the last four years, four women have been elected as presidents in Latin America: ºichelle
Bachelet in ^hile, ^ristina Kirchner in Argentina, Laura ^hinchilla in ^osta Rica and
DilmaRoussef in Brazil. ühis is the first time that Latin America has three women presidents
simultaneously active (Bachelet finished her constitutional period on ºarch 2010)
(Latinobarómetro, 2010: 77).
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m‘ Albiñana, Antonio (Ed) (1999). Ñ




. ºadrid: Le ºonde Diplomatique
Edición Española.
m‘ Aranzadi,Unai (2010).’

 
 

 

 

á

. [Online text] http://rebelion.org/docs/118109.pdf
m‘ Boniface, Dexter (2010). ³rë
  
º

´ in Democracy in Latin America
Bloghttp://demlab.wordpress.com/2010/03/15/whos-afraid-of-mexico/
m‘ FLA^SO ± ^hile (2007).’

ë
 

   
ë .
[online publication]. http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Security/referencematerials/biblios.pdf
m‘ Koroliov, Y. &Kudahikin, º. (1987).  
 á




.
ºoscow: Progreso.
m‘ Ramacciotti, Beatriz (2005). 


º   

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.
http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Security/referencematerials_ramacciotti.pdf
m‘ Rojas Aravena, Francisco (). 3 
  






  ë !

 . http://www.unidir.org/pdf/articles/pdf-art1442.pdf
m‘ United Nations Office on Drugs and ^rime (2010). 

 

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"Ñ
’á  

# 

ë
’
$ 

. Vienna: United Nations. Online
publication, available at http://www.unodc.org/documents/human-
trafficking/ºarian/Smuggling_of_ºigrants_A_Global_Review.pdf (last viewed 26/11/10).
m‘ United Nations Office on Drugs and ^rime (2010). G[’
%&'&$

 
ëë

 ( 
. Vienna: UNOD^.
m‘ Zala, Ben (2010).

 

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 . Oxford Research Group.
http://www.oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk/sites/default/files/Looking%20for%20Leadership.pd
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Further information or comment, please feel free to contact me on:

Email: pablo.rivero@unslp.edu.bo / pablo.rivero@gmail.com

Website: www.pabloarivero.com