Perry Center faculty Dr. Boris Saavedra and Professor Celina Realuyo (center)

On February 28, 2024, Perry Center Professors Celina Realuyo and Boris Saavedra participated in a defense and security seminar for 200 army officers at the Ecuadorian Army War Academy in Quito, Ecuador. Professor Realuyo gave a presentation titled “Security and Governance: How to Combat Terrorism, Crime and Corruption in the Americas.” She explained how transnational organized crime is diversifying into synthetic drugs and human trafficking and expanding its illicit activities in cyberspace in the Western Hemisphere. She emphasized the need for greater interagency and international cooperation to improve the fight against terrorism, transnational organized crime and corruption.

Dr. Boris Saavedra spoke on transnational organized crime in cyberspace. He explained how cyberspace presents a new domain with various threats to individuals, businesses, critical infrastructure and governments. He described how the cybersecurity spectrum includes ransomware, identity theft, and abuse of social networks with misinformation. With emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing, he emphasized that there is a great need to educate our political, military and business leaders about the opportunities and risks they present to the public.