Guatemala received a shipment of weapons and military equipment from the United States on Sept. 21, the first in a series of commercial exchanges set to total $5 million. Weapons transfers to the country had been formally frozen since the administration of President Jimmy Carter restricted arms sales in 1977 due to the Guatemalan military's record of human rights abuses during the country's civil war. The ban was lifted in March, after months of deepening security ties between the two countries.

Human Rights Watch on Sept. 2 called for the Chilean National Congress to reject a proposed package of constitutional amendments addressing "national security" questions being pushed by President José Antonio Kast. HRW charged that the amendments, supposedly aimed at fighting organized crime, would undermine due process and human rights protections.

United Nations experts on Sept. 1 issued a statement demanding an end to the unlawful attacks and killings carried out by the United States military on suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Pacific. The experts indicated that these attacks—which began a year ago and resumed in August after a months-long hiatus—are not justifiable under international humanitarian law.

Colombia formally joined the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition (A3C) on Aug. 12, a US-led regional initiative under the rubric of the so-called "Shield of the Americas." US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced that new far-right President Abelardo de la Espriella had authorized joint "counter-terrorism" operations, a move that opens the door to US-led strikes on Colombian territory, which Hegseth said has already been discussed. De la Espriella's granting of permission to US troops to operate within Colombia is likely unconstitutional—the transit and operation of foreign troops on Colombian soil requires Congressional approval. The agreement was formalized in Panama, where Hegseth spent two days meeting with the A3C's 19 partner members, deepening ties, and rallying opposition to the International Criminal Court, which he accused of launching a "lawless power grab" by potentially investigating US strikes in the region, a step it has not yet taken. (NACLA Update)

Aid organizations responding to the powerful earthquake that hit Colombia on Aug. 10 face significant challenges, including difficulties accessing some of the worst-hit areas in remote western regions that have been seeing rising violence. Emergency response teams are still assessing the damage, but at least 181 people have already been reported killed and nearly 1,250 injured. It is feared the toll could rise significantly, with many more trapped under the rubble or missing.

Five South American countries on Aug. 6 announced completion of a two-week joint law enforcement operation targeting environmental crimes across the Amazon rainforest. The campaign, dubbed Operation Green Shield 2026, resulted in over 800 arrests and the seizure of hundreds of millions of dollars in timber, minerals and livestock.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report on July 21 detailing four attacks on Ecuadorian persons, properties and vessels that they attribute to an intensified counter-narcotics campaign led by the US with the partnership of the Ecuadorian government.

Remnants of the Russian mercenary group Wagner apparently not integrated into Moscow's new Africa Corps have effectively gone rogue in the Central African republic, financing their operations through narco-trafficking. According to a Wall Street Journal Report of July 11, the mercenaries are running an opioid empire, supplying tramadol to the national army, local militias, their own forces, and workers in gold mines the group operates. A painkiller in normal doses, tramadol acts as a stimulant in higher doses that can reduce fear, exhaustion and hunger in users. Proceeds from tramadol distribution, including exports, have helped the Wagner remnants in CAR maintain independence from Moscow. The rogue remnant force is said to be led by Pavel Prigozhin, son of the late Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. (TNH, United24)