Latin America Daily Security Brief

On Monday April 20, a gunman opened fire at the Pyramid of the Moon in Teotihuacán, killing one tourist and wounding 13 others — six from gunshots, seven more injured in the panicked rush to escape. The shooter, identified by Mexican authorities as Julio César Jasso Ramírez, was found dead at the scene. Initial reports from a police commander said he took his own life, but subsequent video showed National Guard personnel pursuing him; the State of Mexico's Attorney General (FGJEM) says cause of death remains subject to forensic protocols.

Governor-level security coordinator Cristóbal Castañeda confirmed approximately 350 personnel from the National Guard and state forces were deployed in the aftermath. President Claudia Sheinbaum announced Mexico will increase security at tourist sites nationwide. The incident arrives 51 days before the World Cup opener at Estadio Azteca — El País noted it is reigniting debate over whether Mexico is prepared to host the tournament given its ongoing security crisis.

Separately, four people were killed in Chihuahua state in a crash involving a convoy — two of the dead were confirmed U.S. Embassy instructor officials (reported as DEA or law enforcement trainers). Sheinbaum said the operation was coordinated by the local government and stated she was unaware of it in advance; Mexico's government has opened an investigation into whether national security laws were violated. The U.S. State Department has imposed visa restrictions on 75 individuals allegedly linked to the Sinaloa Cartel.

The Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) succession conflict — ongoing since El Mencho's capture and death in late February — continues to drive violence across multiple states. El País (Spain) reports that fighting between Sinaloa factions loyal to Mayo Zambada, the Chapitos, and José Caro Quintero is concentrated in Sinaloa and Sonora but spreading nationwide. The mayor of Uruapan, Michoacán, Carlos Manzo — who had built a political movement around peace — was assassinated in the city center.

A paramilitary group in Oaxaca killed two members of the Movimiento de Unificación y Lucha Triqui (MULTI) and burned their vehicle, according to Proceso. MULTI named the group as operating under Antonio Ramírez Martínez on orders from the Ortiz family. On the Mexico-Tuxpan highway, a shootout between state police and armed civilians left a doctor dead.

Peace delegate Armando Novoa announced that Colombia's government is ending dialogue with FARC dissident group Comandos de la Frontera after that group carried out fresh violent acts in Nariño. Novoa confirmed to El Colombiano that the attacks 'break the agreements' of the peace table. Comandos de la Frontera had been one of the few armed groups still engaged with Petro's 'paz total' framework.

In a separate JEP (Special Jurisdiction for Peace) proceeding, five former commanders of the FARC's Bloque Caribe appeared before the tribunal and acknowledged a systematic pattern of kidnappings across multiple Colombian regions, admitting organizational responsibility for the crimes.

Amnesty International released a report naming Colombia and Venezuela as the two most dangerous countries in the world for human rights defenders. In Colombia, the group Somos Defensores recorded 165 killings of rights defenders in 2025 — the highest figure under the Petro government. Amnesty's regional research director Valentina Ballesta flagged growing use of lethal force and drone-based threat audio, with armed groups in Briceño, Antioquia, sending recorded messages to civilian communities warning of drone bombings.

The Colombian government's own data, cited in Spanish-language media, shows 28 massacres with 88 victims and 20 police killed in the first months of 2026. The Catatumbo crisis — triggered by ELN-FARC dissident fighting in January 2025 — has displaced 22,570 people who remain in three shelters, per the Unified Command Post (PMU).

Colombia's Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) published a report this week documenting over 100,000 cases of animals harmed in the conflict — one every 30 minutes — including 44 species pushed toward extinction. The data reinforces the JEP's broader finding that armed conflict is one of Colombia's most destructive environmental forces, concentrated in Antioquia.

Ecuador's government announced this week that curfews will take effect in May across nine of the country's 24 provinces, including the capital Quito and largest city Guayaquil. Interior Minister John Reimberg confirmed the measure is part of a broader offensive targeting narco-trafficking networks and illegal mining. The provinces of Manabí, Esmeraldas, and Sucumbíos are designated as priority intervention zones.

Simultaneously, Ecuador and the United States signed a security cooperation memorandum allowing intelligence sharing to counter transnational criminal organizations. U.S. military forces have been cooperating with Ecuadorian forces since early 2026, per Vanguardia. InSight Crime data cited by Swiss media puts Ecuador's homicide rate at 51 per 100,000 in 2025 — one of the highest in Latin America — with roughly 70% of cocaine transiting through Ecuadorian territory.

Dismembered body parts were found by bathers in Puerto López, Manabí — a coastal town the BBC notes has been hit repeatedly by gang violence. A complaint was filed by Ecuador's consulate after a consular agent was denied entry by unknown parties, suggesting cartel-linked intimidation of government officials.

El Salvador opened a mass trial on Monday April 21 for 486 alleged MS-13 members, including national leadership, street-level leaders, program coordinators, and founders of the gang. Prosecutors say the defendants are collectively responsible for more than 47,000 crimes committed between 2012 and 2022, including homicide, femicide, extortion, arms trafficking, and narcotics. The charges encompass a period that included El Salvador's bloodiest single weekend since the civil war.

Of the 486 defendants, 413 are held at CECOT, the maximum-security Terrorism Confinement Center, and participated in proceedings virtually. Seventy-three are being tried in absentia. The proceedings are enabled by a congressional decree allowing mass trials passed under the state of emergency, which has been continuously renewed since March 2022 and has produced more than 91,500 total detentions.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued a statement Tuesday expressing 'serious worries' about the prolonged state of exception and calling on the Bukele government to end the measure. Human rights groups have flagged detentions without charge and restricted visitation rights as systemic issues throughout the process.

Peru's presidential first-round vote count continues into its second week with the runoff not yet officially confirmed. Interim President José María Balcázar deferred to the National Elections Board (JNE) on whether to sanction those responsible for count irregularities. The battle for second place — between left-wing Roberto Sánchez and ultra-conservative Rafael López Aliaga of Renovación Popular — appears to favor Sánchez, but with substantial ballots still outstanding, electoral authorities say final results won't be confirmed until mid-May.

López Aliaga has publicly encouraged protests in Lima and his party has filed complaints with the JNE alleging process irregularities. Potential mass protests from Sánchez supporters are also flagged if results flip. Reuters and the Latin America Risk Report both note the prolonged count is generating an 'electoral risk premium' on mining investment.

Southern Copper (SCCO) regained its permit on Sunday to begin Phase 1 of the Tía María copper project, representing a $1.8 billion investment expected to produce 120,000 metric tons of copper annually from 2027. The permit reissuance is a significant signal for foreign investors, but Reuters analysts say it is being overshadowed by political uncertainty — Peru is the world's third-largest copper producer at 2.77 million metric tons annually, representing roughly 12% of global supply.

The U.S. asked Brazil's security attaché to leave the country, according to Reuters — a diplomatic escalation tied to the brief ICE detention last week of Alexandre Ramagem, Brazil's former intelligence chief who fled to the U.S. after his September conviction for plotting a coup alongside ex-President Jair Bolsonaro. Brazilian officials are monitoring the situation closely, hoping U.S. pressure leads to Ramagem's extradition for trial in Brazil.

A New York Times investigation into the PCC (Primeiro Comando da Capital) published this week details how the São Paulo-based prison gang has grown into a global cocaine trafficking power. Key finding: in February, police arrested the operator of a multimillion-dollar fintech firm that allegedly financed municipal election campaigns in 2024 to secure garbage collection, bus concessions, and fuel supply contracts. Colonel Pedro Lopes, then-head of São Paulo military police intelligence, confirmed the PCC's political infiltration spans multiple Brazilian states.

A Guardian investigation on gender-based violence in Brazilian favelas reports a link between rising gang violence and misogynistic online communities. Executive director of the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety, Samira Bueno, cites the 'manosphere' as a direct influence on gang recruitment and violence patterns, including a high-profile gang rape case where the suspect turned himself in wearing a T-shirt referencing Andrew Tate.

Venezuelan union leaders, retirees, and public sector workers marched Thursday toward Miraflores palace demanding higher wages and dignified pensions, per AP. Police blocked their route. On a separate avenue, government loyalists marched in organized columns at the call of Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello — a visible show of the regime's effort to dominate street-level mobilization.

InSight Crime published an investigation into Venezuela's new mining law, which opens the gold sector to foreign investment but, the outlet argues, deliberately obscures entrenched corruption and criminal control over production. The law does not address the role of armed groups — including the Tren de Aragua and ELN-linked fronts — that control mine access and revenue streams in Bolívar and Amazonas states.

A Wikipedia-sourced summary of the broader 2026 Venezuelan crisis notes that the political transition following Maduro's capture remains 'genuinely fragile,' with Venezuelan oil exports still affected by an ongoing blockade. The resulting energy shortfall is contributing to economic pressure on Cuba, which relied on Venezuelan oil shipments. One analyst commentary (Modern Diplomacy) warns explicitly of a 'Libya trap' — where regime change leads to years of output decline before recovery.

Panama took custody Monday of Ali Zaki Hage Jalil, a 57-year-old Colombian-Venezuelan national of Lebanese descent, as the primary suspect in the July 1994 bombing of Alas Chiricanas Flight 901 — an attack that killed all 21 people on board and remains the deadliest terrorist act in Panamanian history. Jalil arrived at Tocumen International Airport under heavy security, per the Tico Times.

Panama's ongoing dispute with China over canal shipping inspections continues to draw regional backing. Costa Rica formally joined the United States, Israel, Ukraine, Honduras, Peru, and Paraguay in publicly criticizing what those governments describe as Chinese use of economic leverage to undermine the rule of law. The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission and Secretary of State Rubio have both raised concerns.

Cuba's migration crisis is intensifying under sustained U.S. pressure, Bloomberg reports. Flights are scarce, paperwork is increasingly difficult to obtain, and neighboring countries are closing their doors to Cuban migrants under U.S. pressure. The diplomatic opening that began with the release of 51 political prisoners in March remains fragile.

The collapse of Venezuelan oil shipments — a downstream effect of the broader regional crisis — is cutting into Cuba's already limited energy supply. The Cuban government has not publicly acknowledged the extent of the shortfall, but the combination of U.S. sanctions, lost Venezuelan support, and the migration pressure is compressing the regime's options.

Chile's government renewed the state of constitutional exception in the Macrozona Sur — covering Biobío and La Araucanía regions — following a legislative review this week. The government defended the measure citing a 79% reduction in violence in the zone. The Diario Financiero reports that a former Arauco delegate warned that any military drawdown must be paired with productive economic reactivation to avoid a security vacuum.

Chile's Senate is advancing a 'fast-track security agenda' with a U.S.-backed component that includes a $1 million technology transfer for anti-narcotics and organized crime operations, per Diario El America. The Senate Defense and Public Security Commission met Tuesday to review the Macrozona Sur deployment with representatives from the Interior, Defense, and Public Security ministries.

Dominican security forces seized more than two tons of cocaine in joint operations over the last 48 hours, including one interdiction of 375 packages of suspected cocaine with two arrests. The operations reflect continued anti-narcotics pressure in Caribbean transit corridors.

A court handed down sentences of up to 30 years in a case stemming from a March 2023 assassination attempt in Higüey, La Altagracia province, which unraveled a criminal network operating in contract killing, narco-trafficking, and related crimes. Five men were convicted in the case.

Paraguay confirmed it will accept third-country nationals deported from the United States, joining a growing list of Latin American nations that have agreed to receive migrants from other countries under the Trump administration's deportation program, per Reuters.

Paraguay is also positioning itself for the EU-Mercosur trade agreement, which enters into force May 1. The country's ambassador to Spain is conducting a tour of Spanish cities with large Paraguayan diaspora communities to build commercial relationships ahead of the new trade framework.