A company based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has hired and transported hundreds of Colombian private military contractors to Sudan to fight for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released May 25.

In its latest annual report released May 12, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) found that the armed conflict in Colombia saw the "worst humanitarian consequences" of the past decade in 2025. The number of people killed or injured by explosive devices rose by 34% to 965, overwhelmingly non-combatants. The number of individual disappearances doubled to 308. Violations of international humanitarian law documented by the ICRC reached 845 cases, while figures for displacement and "confinement" doubled. According to the Comprehensive Victim Support & Reparation Unit (UARIV), at least 235,619 people were displaced individually in 2025, while 87,069 were displaced in mass displacement events, and 176,730 remained "confined" in communities under siege by armed actors. (TNH, ReliefWeb)

Nearly 200 people have been killed since the US started bombing boats supposedly believed to be carrying drugs in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific last September—and the figure keeps rising. The strikes have caused an international outcry over the violation of international human rights law, but there has been little information about the victims themselves. A months-long cross-border investigation coordinated by the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP) has now managed to piece together the details of over 20 of the young men believed to have been killed, plus three survivors. They were overwhelmingly poor fishermen and small boat transporters without criminal records. They came from economically vulnerable coastal communities, including in Colombia, Venezuela, Saint Lucia, Trinidad & Tobago and Ecuador. The investigation identified each of the boats targeted and noted that their home governments have failed so far to investigate the attacks.

"Hondurasgate"—an apparent plot involving Israel, the United States, and former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández (JOH) to destabilize Latin America's progressive governments through disinformation—has thrust Israel's ties to the region back into the spotlight. The scandal emerged ahead of a diplomatic visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog to Central America as part of a push to consolidate alliances with the region's right-wing leaders. 

UN experts on March 27 welcomed Colombian President Gustavo Petro's ratification of the 1989 International Convention against Recruitment, Use, Financing & Training of Mercenaries. The experts praised the signing of what amounts to a new anti-mercenary legislative package, calling it an essential step toward protecting human rights and upholding international legal obligations.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Feb. 15 he would accept a proposal from the country's largest remaining rebel group to allow an independent commission to investigate its alleged links to drug trafficking.

Nicolás Maduro, the former president of Venezuela, appeared alongside his wife before a federal judge in New York on Jan. 5—with dueling demonstrations by his supporters and opponents outside the Manhattan courthouse. Separated by police lines, the rival protests nonetheless repeatedly escalated to physical confrontations. Inside, Maduro told US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein: "I'm innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the president of my country." Maduro also told the judge he was "kidnapped from" his home in Caracas. His attorneys are expected to argue he was illegally arrested and is immune from prosecution.

The world's governments approved a new climate deal at the COP30 summit in Belém, Brazil, adopting the so‑called Belém Package, a bundle of decisions that calls for tripling outlays to help vulnerable countries adapt to intensifying climate impacts.