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South & Latin America
Loyal Paraguay
Loyal Paraguay: The Peña Government’s Strategic Choice to Stay with Taiwan
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Slide for "Election, Crisis, and US Opportunity"
Election, Crisis, and U.S. Opportunity in Bolivia
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Transnational Organized Crime in Mexico and the Government’s Response | R. Evan Ellis
Transnational Organized Crime in Mexico and the Government’s Response
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Amid Trump Tariffs, Where Do China-Mexico Ties Stand? | R. Evan Ellis
Amid Trump Tariffs, Where Do China-Mexico Ties Stand?
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Toward a More Effective DoD Contribution to Strategic Competition in the Western Hemisphere | R. Evan Ellis
Toward a More Effective DoD Contribution to Strategic Competition in the Western Hemisphere
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The Impact of China on US Interests in Latin America | R. Evan Ellis
The Impact of China on US Interests in Latin America
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Ecuador’s Security Challenges and the Government’s Response | R. Evan Ellis
Ecuador’s Security Challenges and the Government’s Response
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2025: Possibilities for the Year to Come | Dr. R. Evan Ellis
2025: Possibilities for the Year to Come
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Ecuador’s Evolving Engagement with the PRC | Dr. R. Evan Ellis
Ecuador’s Evolving Engagement with the PRC
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Security Implications for the United States from Iranian and Hezbollah Activities in Latin America | R. Evan Ellis WEBINAR
Security Implications for the United States from Iranian and Hezbollah Activities in Latin America
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Making the Case for Democratic, Limited Government and Economic Liberty in the Americas | R. Evan Ellis
Making the Case for Democratic, Limited Government and Economic Liberty in the Americas
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Challenges and Opportunities for US-Mexico Security Cooperation | R. Evan Ellis
Challenges and Opportunities for U.S.-Mexico Security Cooperation
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From the Archives
Loyal Paraguay: The Peña Government’s Strategic Choice to Stay with Taiwan
Loyal Paraguay
Aug. 26, 2025 - From August 11-15, 2025, the author was in Asuncion, Paraguay, in an International Republican Institute (IRI) event hosted by that nation’s President Santiago Peña, bringing together government officials, diplomats,...
Election, Crisis, and U.S. Opportunity in Bolivia
Slide for
Aug. 13, 2025 - Bolivia, strategically at the center of South America, faces a critical election that will define its direction in its current profound economic, political and security crisis, its future relationship with the People’s...
Transnational Organized Crime in Mexico and the Government’s Response
Transnational Organized Crime in Mexico and the Government’s Response | R. Evan Ellis Background image of fentanyl pills from Mexico seized by US Custom and Border Protection officers at the Port of Mariposa in Nogales, Arizona, November 2023 from DVIDS (https://www.dvidshub.net/image/8123153/fentanyl-seizure-port-nogales). Overlaid with a digital map of Mexico from Freepik (https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/mexico-map-vector_333986.htm), edited for color.
April 29, 2025 - The US government threats of tariffs on the Mexican government if it did not do more to control illicit fentanyl flows into the United States have cast new attention on the growing problem of transnational organized crime...
Amid Trump Tariffs, Where Do China-Mexico Ties Stand?
Amid Trump Tariffs, Where Do China-Mexico Ties Stand? | R. Evan Ellis Background image of President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in November 2024, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from the CHN spokesperson on X.com (https://x.com/SpokespersonCHN/status/1858662963353448543)
March 24, 2025 - Mexico’s government is attempting to downplay its relationship with China to avoid Trump’s ire, but ties continue beneath the surface. In the beginning of March 2025, I traveled to Mexico to speak with a range of officials...
Toward a More Effective DoD Contribution to Strategic Competition in the Western Hemisphere
Toward a More Effective DoD Contribution to Strategic Competition in the Western Hemisphere | R. Evan Ellis Combination of images: 3-D Rendering of Earth from Freepik (https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/3d-rendering-planet-earth_44957909.htm); digital overlay of “Cloud Computing” from Freepik (https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/illustration-social-media-concept_2806750.htm); a mockup image of the Chinese space station from Wikimedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinese_Tiangong_Space_Station.jpg); overlaid on a background of deep space created with generative AI in Adobe Photoshop.
Feb. 21, 2025 - Innovative new thinking is needed on the security challenges the People’s Republic of China poses in Latin America and the Department of Defense’s role in the US response, including (1) enhanced security cooperation that...
The Impact of China on US Interests in Latin America
The Impact of China on US Interests in Latin America | R. Evan Ellis President Trump’s statements regarding the influence of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) over the Panama Canal, and the focus on the issue as part of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s February 2025 trip to Central America and the Caribbean ... Image of worldmap from Freepik (https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/infographic-with-colored-world-map_796291.htm)
Feb. 21, 2025 - President Trump’s statements regarding the influence of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) over the Panama Canal, and the focus on the issue as part of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s February 2025 trip to Central America...
Ecuador’s Security Challenges and the Government’s Response
Ecuador’s Security Challenges and the Government’s Response | R. Evan Ellis Background image from article: https://gordoninstitute.fiu.edu/news-events/the-policy-spotlight/2025/ecuadors-security-challenges-and-the-governments-response.html
Feb. 11, 2025 - In January 2024, following a series of dramatic public security incidents, including the escape from prison of Adolfo Macias (“Fito”), the leader of the violent Ecuadoran gang Los Choneros, and the takeover of an Ecuadoran...
2025: Possibilities for the Year to Come
2025: Possibilities for the Year to Come | Dr. R. Evan Ellis in Indrastra
Dec. 27, 2024 - 2025 is likely to be a transformative year for Latin America and the Caribbean, and its relationships with the United States, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and other actors. Although it is impossible to predict with...
Ecuador’s Evolving Engagement with the PRC
Ecuador’s Evolving Engagement with the PRC | Dr. R. Evan Ellis | Published by The Diplomat
Dec. 24, 2024 - Under the current Ecuadorian government of Daniel Noboa, major infrastructure, financial, and security cooperation with China has been restrained, but political expediency may change that.In September 2024, Ecuadorian Economy...
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