Episode 8 of the Border Wars Podcast is about El Salvador. On October 15, 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice designated La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) as a major transnational criminal organization. Consecutive governments in El Salvador tried to negotiate with MS-13 leaders in efforts to calm down gang violence and reduce the high-rate of homicides. These efforts failed.

Former Washington Post investigative journalist and U.S. Defense Department consultant, Douglas Farah, has been investigating gangs in El Salvador since their formation in the 1990s. Published by the Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), his most recent report argues that MS-13 is no longer simply a street gang but rather a Community-Embedded Transnational Armed Group (CETAG) that operates in several countries with a structured order of battle and political power.

Doug's work on gangs and transnational organized crime pioneered a new concept called "criminalized states," which we discuss in the latest episode of the Border Wars Podcast. Read the following reports related to the topics discussed in this episode.

INSS Strategic Perspective No. 38 report "Gangs No Longer: Reassessing Transnational Armed Groups in the Western Hemisphere": https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Media/News/Article/3041245/gangs-no-longer-reassessing-transnational-armed-groups-in-the-western-hemisphere/

Download PDF: https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Portals/68/Documents/stratperspective/inss/Strategic-Perspectives-38.pdf

SFS Policy Report on "Suriname: The New Paradigm of a Criminalized State" - https://www.securefreesociety.org/research/march-2017-issue-3/

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Visit our website at securefreesociety.org. See you in the next episode.

#BorderWars #Podcast #ElSalvador

Episode 7 of the Border Wars Podcast is dedicated to our new Transregional Threats Journal article, "Killer Drones." Authored by Colonel (ret.) Bill Edwards, there is no one better suited to analyze this evolution in technology and associated threats. With multiple combat tours to include Operation Iraqi Freedom to then serving as the director of intelligence for J2, Special Operations Command-North (SOCNORTH) - in this episode, Bill discusses how drones are changing battlefields, borders, and life as we know it - for good and bad.

Now in the private sector, Bill Edwards is consulting several companies on how to prepare for this drastic uptick in the abuse of commercial drones and shares some of his recommendations in the podcast.

From the Ukraine War to Venezuela to Mexican cartels on the US southern border, drones are a major focus for SFS research and featured for the first time in this podcast and the associated Transregional Threats Journal (link below).

Read #TTJournal Issue 09 Online: https://www.securefreesociety.org/res...

Download PDF: https://bit.ly/TTJ09Magazine

Book - Inside Abu Ghraib: Memoirs of Two U.S. Military Intelligence Officers: https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Abu-Ghraib-Military-Intelligence-ebook/dp/B09K5P9B8X

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Visit our website at securefreesociety.org. See you in the next episode.

#BorderWarsPodcast #Podcast #Drone

En nuestro sexto episodio de Border Wars Podcast conversamos sobre los diferentes actores implicados en el asesinato del fiscal paraguayo Marcelo Pecci a manos de sicarios en la Isla de Barú en Cartagena, Colombia.

¿Quiénes podrían ser los autores intelectuales? ¿Un grupo terrorista como Hezbollah o grandes carteles de droga como el PCC de Brasil?

Le invitamos a escuchar a nuestro Director Ejecutivo SFS, Joseph Humire, en compañía de invitados especiales, para analizar este crimen.

🇧🇷 Leonardo Coutinho, SFS Senior Fellow y autor, "Hugo Chávez, o espectro" (https://amzn.to/3xuIvxz)

🇺🇸 Sergio de la Peña, Ex Subsecretario de Defensa EE.UU.

Bienvenidos a Border Wars, el primer podcast sobre amenazas transregionales de las Américas.

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Visite nuestro sitio oficial en securefreesociety.org.

#MarceloPecci #Hezbollah #PCCBrasil

En nuestro quinto episodio de Border Wars Podcast hicimos un análisis sobre las elecciones presidenciales en Colombia. Únase a esta conversación con nuestro Director Ejecutivo SFS, Joseph Humire, en compañía de invitados especiales:

🇧🇷 Leonardo Coutinho, SFS Senior Fellow y autor, "Hugo Chávez, o espectro" (https://amzn.to/3xuIvxz)

🇺🇸 Sergio de la Peña, Ex Subsecretario de Defensa EE.UU.

Bienvenidos a Border Wars, el primer podcast sobre amenazas transregionales de las Américas.

📲 Suscríbase a nuestro podcast en diferentes plataformas digitales:

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YouTube: https://bit.ly/BWPodcastYouTube

Visite nuestro sitio oficial en securefreesociety.org.

#EleccionesColombia #GustavoPetro #RodolfoHernández

En nuestro cuarto episodio de Border Wars Podcast conversamos con dos reconocidos expertos sobre la Cumbre de las Américas 2022 que se realizó en la ciudad de Los Ángeles, Estados Unidos.

¿Quiénes trataron de hacer boicot a la Cumbre? ¿Qué está buscando el presidente de México AMLO al no asistir a la Cumbre y si respaldar a las dictaduras de Venezuela, Cuba y Nicaragua? ¿Cuál es el futuro que tendrán las relaciones entre los presidentes Joe Biden y Jair Bolsonaro?

Únase a esta conversación con nuestro Director Ejecutivo SFS, Joseph Humire, en compañía de invitados especiales:

🇧🇷 Leonardo Coutinho, SFS Senior Fellow y autor del libro "Hugo Chávez, o espectro" (https://amzn.to/3xuIvxz)

🇺🇸 Sergio de la Peña, Ex Subsecretario de Defensa de los Estados Unidos

Bienvenidos a Border Wars, el primer podcast sobre amenazas transregionales de las Américas.

📲 Suscríbase a nuestro podcast en diferentes plataformas digitales:

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Google Podcast: https://bit.ly/GooglePodcastSFS

YouTube: https://bit.ly/BWPodcastYouTube

Visite nuestro sitio oficial en securefreesociety.org.

#BorderWars #Podcast #CumbreDeLasAméricas

En el tercer episodio de Border Wars Podcast continuamos nuestra conversación sobre Venezuela junto a 3 coroneles retirados de Venezuela, Colombia y Estados Unidos. ¿Por qué falló el 30 de abril - Operación Libertad? ¿Qué factores han permitido que Nicolás Maduro se mantenga en el poder? ¿Las FANB podrían rebelarse contra Maduro?

Únase a esta conversación con nuestro Director Ejecutivo SFS, Joseph Humire, en compañía de invitados especiales:

🇻🇪 José Gustavo Arocha, Teniente Coronel (R) del Ejército Venezolano

🇨🇴 Jesús Alberto Ruíz, Coronel (R) del Ejército de Colombia

🇺🇸 Sergio de la Peña, Coronel (R) del Ejército de EE.UU.

Bienvenidos a Border Wars, el primer podcast sobre amenazas transregionales de las Américas.

📲 Suscríbase a nuestro podcast en diferentes plataformas digitales:

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Visite nuestro sitio oficial en securefreesociety.org.

#BorderWars #Podcast #Venezuela

En nuestro segundo episodio de Border Wars Podcast conversamos en exclusiva con 3 coroneles retirados de Venezuela, Colombia y Estados Unidos; quienes de manera franca y directa nos explican porque fracasó "El Cucutazo", y cómo después de tres años Nicolás Maduro ha logrado resistir la presión internacional haciéndose más fuerte en el poder.

En medio de un escenario tan peligroso y oscuro para el pueblo venezolano, ¿Cómo sacar del poder a Nicolás Maduro? ¿Son las FANB en Venezuela importantes para liberar el pueblo venezolano?

Únase a nuestro Director Ejecutivo SFS, Joseph Humire, en compañía de estos invitados especiales:

🇻🇪 José Gustavo Arocha, Teniente Coronel (R) del Ejército Venezolano.

🇨🇴 Jesús Alberto Ruíz, Coronel (R) del Ejército de Colombia.

🇺🇸 Sergio de la Peña, Coronel (R) del Ejército de EE.UU.

Bienvenidos a Border Wars, el primer podcast sobre amenazas transregionales de las Américas.

📲 Suscríbase a nuestro podcast en diferentes plataformas digitales:

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3q4GXaR

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Google Podcast: https://bit.ly/GooglePodcastSFS

YouTube: https://bit.ly/BWPodcastYouTube

Visite nuestro sitio oficial en securefreesociety.org.

#BorderWars #Podcast #Venezuela

Welcome to Border Wars, the first bilingual (EN/ES) podcast that goes beyond the border. Today’s conversation is with three scholar-practitioners, who have not only studied the crisis at the US southern border they have worked border security issues through law enforcement, intelligence, and the military.

Join SFS Executive Director Joseph Humire for our premier episode of the Border Wars Podcast with special guests:

• Derek Maltz, former Director, DEA Special Operations Division.

• Sergio de la Peña, former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs.

• David Grantham, PhD, former US Air Force Office of Special Investigations and Texas Intelligence Specialist.

What does the border mean for the United States? This first episode explores this question with top experts who have spent their careers protecting our borders from criminals and terrorists. From the Fentanyl drug crisis to weaponized mass migration—the crisis at the US southern border is at the heart of many of the problems our country is facing, and is where we begin our conversation on Border Wars.

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Visit our website at securefreesociety.org.

#BorderWarsPodcast #BorderCrisis #SFS

Through a decade of field research, the next-generation, national security think tank, the Center for a Secure Free Society has uncovered numerous cases of transregional criminal and terrorist elements operating in Latin America. These threats are growing and catalyzing an unprecedented crisis on the U.S. southern border. A crisis that many Americans are aware of but few understand. Until Now.

Welcome to Border Wars, the first bilingual podcast that goes beyond the border. Subscribe to the Border Wars podcast and visit our website at securefreesociety.org.