Latin America Daily Security Brief

CNN reported Tuesday that the CIA has been conducting lethal covert operations inside Mexico for at least a year, targeting mid-level cartel figures through its Ground Branch paramilitary unit. The report cites multiple U.S. officials and says CIA operatives were present — providing real-time intelligence, support, and equipment — during operations carried out by Mexican forces, including the one that killed CJNG leader El Mencho. CIA officers reportedly did not pull triggers themselves but were on-site during lethal actions.

Mexico's Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch flatly rejected the CNN report, stating that no foreign agencies conduct covert operations on Mexican soil and that U.S.-Mexico cooperation is limited to intelligence-sharing and institutional coordination. The CIA also denied the account. Both governments denied CIA involvement in a specific operation in the State of Mexico against a Sinaloa Cartel operator. The New York Times and Al Jazeera reported both governments' rejections within hours of the CNN story going live.

Separately, Archyde reported that U.S. intelligence operatives were embedded inside the Chihuahua Attorney General's Office (FGE) before the early-May raid on the Zuany fentanyl laboratory — with at least one armed American present. A U.S. citizen was subsequently found dead in the region, reportedly in possession of a long gun. The FGE publicly acknowledged foreign agents' presence on May 7, though the disclosure was buried in a press release.

In Guerrero state, inter-cartel fighting between Los Ardillos and Los Tlacos displaced between 800 and 1,000 families in the Chilapa area (La Montaña Baja region). The federal government deployed over 1,000 security personnel — 690 Army troops with 80 vehicles, 400 National Guard with 50 vehicles, 200 state police, five aircraft, and two ambulances. President Sheinbaum explained she had held off on a large-scale military operation to allow negotiations, but confirmed the deployment after conditions became untenable.

The Mexican government separately highlighted the capture of 25 cartel figures in the past 24 hours, including two operators of Gente del Guano (linked to El Chapo's brother Aureliano Guzmán Loera) in Durango, and Irving Alexander 'El Machete,' described as a Unión Tepito cell leader, in Mexico City. In Sinaloa, cartel gunmen attacked a funeral procession in front of Army soldiers who did not intervene — a video that is now circulating widely and raising questions about troop rules of engagement.

President Gustavo Petro confirmed Tuesday he personally ordered an artillery and air bombardment against an ELN command-security unit in Tibú, Norte de Santander (Catatumbo region). The Colombian military reported seven ELN fighters killed. The targeted unit was responsible for protecting the ELN's Central Command (COCE) and National Directorate (DINAL) as they crossed between Venezuela and Colombia to direct operations — making it a high-value strategic target, not a frontline tactical engagement.

The military reported ELN fighters attempted drone attacks on advancing troops during and after the bombardment, and that surviving members extracted bodies from the strike zone under fire. Colombian Army imagery showed nighttime artillery fire. Petro's public confirmation — stating 'they are not part of any peace agreement' — marks a significant rhetorical shift for a president who spent years pursuing negotiated settlements with armed groups.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) released its annual report Tuesday, calling 2025 the worst year for Colombia's humanitarian situation in a decade. The ICRC documented 58,160 people displaced and 85,760 confined in Norte de Santander alone between January and May 2025, driven by ELN-FARC dissident clashes in Catatumbo. The full-year displacement figure nationally doubled compared to 2024, placing Colombia second globally behind Sudan.

Norte de Santander accounted for 67% of all mass displacement nationally. Cauca registered 46% of all explosive-device casualties. Chocó — where armed groups have repeatedly imposed armed stoppages — held 29% of all confined populations. The ICRC specifically attributed much of the Cauca violence to FARC dissident structures under Iván Mordisco's command.

A separate military operation in Buenaventura (Valle del Cauca) killed five FARC dissidents in clashes with security forces, according to El País Colombia. Armed group activity in Chiapas, Mexico's southern border state, has also increased — a reminder that criminal traffic flows across the Colombia-Venezuela-Central America corridor remain active on multiple fronts.

A female judge was shot and killed in Guayaquil on May 13 while commuting to the gym without her security detail — the highest-profile targeted assassination since Ecuador declared a state of emergency. Ecuador's Judicial Oversight Council (Consejo de la Judicatura) confirmed her death. The killing signals that even under emergency conditions, criminal groups retain the capacity and willingness to target state officials.

Ecuadoran authorities reported more than 2,000 detainees after eight days of a curfew (toque de queda) under the state of emergency. Of those, 440 are confirmed to have links to criminal organizations. Despite the curfew, three killings occurred overnight Monday into Tuesday in Manabí, Guayas, and El Oro provinces.

A separate incident in the Guayas coast area resulted in the killing of influencer Darlyen Agraces in what police describe as a targeted shooting. One of the other victims, Carlos Arturo Carrillo, is suspected of being a member of Los Lobos, suggesting the attack may have been a targeted criminal hit with civilian bystanders caught in the crossfire.

Ecuadoran authorities also activated a regional anti-money laundering operation at borders and airports, incorporating 139 new military vehicles into the Armed Forces' fleet. In El Oro province, two members of Los Choneros with alleged ties to Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel and the Cartel del Noroeste were arrested, along with seizure of two vehicles.

President Lula launched 'Brasil Contra el Crimen Organizado' on Tuesday in Brasilia — an 11-billion-real ($2.2 billion) security program targeting PCC and Comando Vermelho. About $190 million will be spent before year-end on surveillance drones, body scanners, cell signal jammers, and armored vehicles. The remainder funds a multi-year effort to isolate criminal leaders in specialized prison units and cut off gang finances.

Lula explicitly framed the program as a financial strangulation strategy — targeting money laundering, arms trafficking supply chains, and the illicit markets that sustain criminal organizations. He told reporters: 'This is a signal to organized crime that they will no longer own any territory.' The program includes investments in homicide investigation quality, a chronic weakness in Brazilian law enforcement.

The launch came one day before Lula's scheduled visit to the White House to meet President Trump. Lula told reporters he had already told Trump that Brazil 'possesses the expertise' to fight organized crime and is 'eager to work together.' The timing is clearly designed to show domestic and U.S. audiences a president who is serious about security ahead of Brazil's 2026 general elections.

Acting President Delcy Rodríguez has pushed through selective reforms to Venezuela's oil and mining laws since Maduro's ouster, but both U.S. officials and energy companies say the changes don't go far enough to justify major capital commitments. Francisco Monaldi of Rice University's Center for Energy Studies told Politico that Venezuela's history of expropriation will weigh heavily on any company considering large investments.

Trump posted on Truth Social suggesting Venezuela could become the '51st state' of the United States — a comment that drew international attention but appears to be aspirational rhetoric rather than policy. Trump separately vowed to free remaining political prisoners still held by the Rodríguez government, and the White House has imposed additional financial restrictions on Cuban and Venezuelan military-linked conglomerates.

Colombia's military publicly confirmed that the ELN's central command uses Venezuelan territory as a staging base for cross-border operations — the most direct official statement yet linking the Rodríguez government's territorial permissiveness to ongoing Colombian violence.

Trump posted cryptically on Truth Social that 'Cuba is asking for help, and we are going to talk,' signaling a potential opening in what has been an extremely tense bilateral relationship. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testified before Congress the same day that Cuba represents a national security threat — creating a simultaneous hard-line and diplomatic-opening posture from the same administration.

NBC reported the Pentagon has been working on contingency plans for a possible military strike against Cuba, following a pattern of pre-operation surveillance buildup that preceded U.S. military action in Venezuela and Iran. The U.S. Navy and Air Force have conducted more than two dozen surveillance flights near Havana and Santiago de Cuba since early February, per CNN.

InSight Crime published an in-depth profile of the first Costa Ricans ever extradited to the United States on drug trafficking charges — a landmark development for a country that only recently amended its constitution to allow nationals to be extradited for international trafficking and terrorism offenses.

The most politically significant case involves Celso Gamboa Sánchez, a former security minister and Supreme Court magistrate, now facing U.S. federal charges tied to transnational cocaine networks linked to Colombian and Mexican cartels. Two other high-profile trafficking figures are also awaiting U.S. justice. InSight Crime notes that Costa Rica's judiciary was seen as too compromised or under-resourced to prosecute these cases domestically.

U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg began a May 12-16 regional tour that includes Costa Rica, Panama, and Guyana. The State Department framed the visit around energy security and critical minerals partnerships — but the timing, alongside the extradition news, suggests Washington is actively tightening its security and economic ties along the Pacific corridor.

A national strike involving dozens of roadblocks entered its second day Monday, with protesters demanding the resignation of President Rodrigo Paz. The Bolivian government called for dialogue. Roadblocks stranded hundreds of foreign nationals, including 241 Peruvians who were repatriated by air after Lima confirmed their safe return on May 11.

Bolivia's anti-narcotics force (FELCN) is separately coordinating with the U.S. DEA on a joint counter-narcotics and organized crime agenda — a notably cooperative signal at a moment when U.S.-Bolivia relations have been strained. FELCN described the focus as technical cooperation, intelligence sharing, and international coordination against transnational trafficking networks.

InSight Crime (published 2 days ago, within the analytical window) documented a Tren de Aragua money laundering scheme discovered in Chile that illustrates how the gang's transnational expansion is driving financial sophistication. The scheme reveals distinct TdA factions operating semi-autonomously in Chile, Colombia, and Peru, each developing localized laundering mechanisms rather than relying on a single centralized system.

The findings suggest TdA is no longer simply a violent street gang displaced from Venezuela — it is evolving into a structured criminal enterprise with differentiated financial infrastructure across multiple countries. Chilean prosecutors identified the scheme as part of a broader investigation that is ongoing.

The ongoing Panama-Costa Rica trade dispute over dairy and meat certifications remains unresolved. Panama's trade minister said his country is 'willing to negotiate under the same conditions,' but stressed Panama will not yield to pressure. Panama argues Costa Rica failed to complete required technical questionnaires under international protocols when seeking renewal of export certifications, a dispute that has been simmering since 2020.

U.S. Under Secretary Helberg's stop in Guyana — the first leg of his regional tour — is focused on energy security and critical minerals. Guyana's offshore oil production has made it one of Washington's most strategically important new energy partners in the hemisphere, and this visit signals continued U.S. attention to securing that relationship as global oil markets remain volatile.

Belize City and the Belize District remain under a state of emergency. Tourism operations outside the affected area continue, but travel advisories from multiple countries warn visitors to monitor developments closely. The emergency reflects broader regional gang violence trends rather than an isolated incident.

Chilean prosecutors in Antofagasta highlighted record drug seizures — 98.4 metric tons confiscated since October 2023 — along with more than 1,000 trafficking convictions, in remarks tied to the Senate president's public statement crediting institutional coordination with 'hitting organized crime.' The Tren de Aragua money laundering disclosure adds another dimension to Chile's criminal threat picture.

The BBC reported on a growing consumer trend: hundreds of thousands of Argentines are crossing into Chile for shopping, driven by a favorable exchange rate and modest spending power gains under President Milei's economic reforms. While not a security story, the cross-border flow dynamic is worth monitoring for smuggling and informal economy implications.