In the past decade, South American vulnerable populations have increasingly become victims of human trafficking via cybersex venues like live webcam sites such as Chaturbate and My Free Cams. Given the increasing prevalence of cybersex trafficking, the complicated nature of addressing the crime, and South American governments’ previous reliance on militaries to address other forms of trafficking (i.e., drug trafficking), this paper answers the following question: should the region’s militaries be called upon to confront the pervasive crime? Ms. Nelson’s paper defines what human trafficking, sex trafficking, and cybersex trafficking are, and their distinctions; it discusses the advent of cybersex trafficking and its contemporary proliferation, challenges in fighting the crime, and possible responses.
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The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies is hosting its fourth annual forum on the security challenges in Latin America. This year?s forum aims to address the thematic question, "Security, Defense, and Gender: What are the Impacts?"
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To commemorate the 20th anniversary of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies and US Southern Command published an edited collection of essays, Twenty Years, Twenty Stories: Women, Peace, and Security in the Western Hemisphere, that reflect the inclusion of women across mission areas including cyber, peacekeeping, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. This book elevates the voices of talented women and men working in defense and security across the Western Hemisphere and highlights Perry Center alumni.
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The illicit drug trade in the Americas has been evolving and expanding from plant-based narcotics like cocaine, heroin and marijuana to potent synthetic substances like fentanyl and methamphetamine. Since the 1980s, the U.S. war on drugs focused on countering cocaine trafficking that made the Colombian and Mexican cartels immensely wealthy and powerful. Over the past decade, US narcotic consumption has shifted significantly from cocaine to opioids and methamphetamine, resulting in an unprecedented opioid epidemic with 72,037 drug overdose deaths recorded in 2017 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Meanwhile, Mexican cartels are increasingly trafficking opioids and synthetics to respond to market changes in the US The atomization of large cartels and increased competition to dominate trafficking routes resulted in record levels of violence in Mexico with 29,111 homicides registered in 2018. The October 17, 2019 failed Mexican government operation to capture one of El Chapo Guzman's sons demonstrated how the Sinaloa cartel outgunned Mexican security forces and terrorized the city of Culiacan for hours. This paper will examine the evolving drug trade across the Americas from plant-based to synthetic drugs, the role of the Darknet as a force multiplier for the narcotics market, and US and Mexican national and international efforts to address the dynamic drug trade and associated violence.
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This article reviews Los Zetas Inc: Criminal Corporations, Energy and Civil War in Mexico by Guadalupe Cabrera-Correa. Her book attempts to address some of the inaccuracies of journalistic descriptions of organized criminal activities. The review challenges some of the author's hypotheses, in particular the characterization of the current context of Mexico as one in the midst of a 'new' civil war.
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