Where will the RUSI Latin American Security Conference be held?

The conference will take place in London, GBR.

What is the primary focus of this conference?

The conference focuses on the evolving security landscape of Latin America, addressing contemporary challenges and strategic responses.

Who is the target audience for this conference?

The conference is designed for policymakers, academics, and practitioners interested in Latin American security.

RUSI Latin American Security Conference 2026

Name: RUSI Latin American Security Conference 2026
Start: 2026-01-29 00:00:00+00:00
End: 2026-01-29 00:00:00+00:00
Location: London

Jan 29, 2026London, United KingdomIn-person

Registration open

The RUSI Latin American Security Conference convenes in GBR to address the evolving security landscape of Latin America. This event serves as a critical forum for policymakers, academics, and practitioners to discuss contemporary challenges and strategic responses within the region. The conference aims to foster a deeper understanding of the complex interplay of internal and external factors shaping security dynamics across Latin American nations.

Committees & topics

Topics
Regional Security Challenges in Latin America · Global Partnerships and Extra-Regional Engagement in Latin America · The UK–Latin America Defence Partnership · The Venezuelan Crisis · Defence Cooperation in the Americas · Cyber Security and Digital Resilience in Latin America · Artificial Intelligence Governance and Security in Latin America · Emerging Defence Technologies in the Latin American Theatre

Why it matters

The security environment in Latin America is characterized by a diverse array of threats, ranging from organized crime and political instability to the impacts of climate change and external geopolitical influences. Understanding these multifaceted challenges is crucial for regional stability and international cooperation. This conference provides a platform for in-depth analysis and collaborative problem-solving, bringing together diverse perspectives to inform more effective security policies.

The discussions at this conference are particularly relevant given the interconnectedness of global security. Instability in one region can have ripple effects worldwide, impacting trade, migration, and international relations. By focusing on Latin American security, the conference contributes to a broader understanding of global security architectures and the role of regional actors within them. The insights generated can help shape future diplomatic efforts and development initiatives.

How to prepare

Delegates preparing for the conference should conduct thorough research into the current geopolitical landscape of Latin America, paying particular attention to the diverse security challenges faced by countries. Understanding the nuances of each nation's security context is vital for meaningful participation. Familiarity with different perspectives on security, as outlined in lessons such as "engagement-strategies," will be beneficial.

Consider the various external influences on Latin American security, including the roles of global powers. Analyzing how these external actors interact with regional dynamics will provide a more comprehensive understanding of the challenges at hand. Furthermore, understanding "gender-dynamics-across-cultures" can offer a more comprehensive view of social and security issues within the region, highlighting often-overlooked aspects of conflict and peacebuilding. Delegates should also explore frameworks for "dynamic-analysis" to better assess rapidly changing security situations.

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 9 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

United Kingdom

As the host nation, GBR provides a neutral ground for discussions on Latin American security, aiming to facilitate dialogue and knowledge exchange without direct regional intervention.

Role in topic

GBR hosts the conference in London, offering a European perspective and a platform for international collaboration on security issues affecting Latin America. Its role is primarily facilitative, encouraging diverse participation and expert contributions.

Brazil

BRA, as a major regional power, is a key stakeholder in Latin American security, influencing regional stability and cooperation efforts.

Role in topic

BRA's significant economic and political influence makes its security concerns and strategies central to any comprehensive discussion on Latin American security. Its approaches to regional challenges often set precedents for other nations.

Mexico

MEX faces unique security challenges, particularly related to transnational crime and border security, making its experiences and strategies highly relevant.

Role in topic

MEX's geographical position and complex security environment, including issues of organized crime and migration, offer critical case studies for understanding broader regional security trends and potential solutions.

Colombia

COL has extensive experience in addressing internal conflicts and post-conflict peacebuilding, providing valuable insights into security sector reform and reconciliation.

Role in topic

COL's long history with internal conflict and its ongoing peace processes provide crucial lessons and perspectives on security sector reform, disarmament, and social reintegration within the Latin American context.

Ecuador

ECU's evolving security landscape, including challenges related to organized crime and political stability, represents a significant area of focus for regional security discussions.

Role in topic

ECU's recent security challenges highlight the dynamic nature of threats in Latin America, offering a contemporary example of how internal and external factors can converge to impact national stability.

Haiti

HTI represents a critical case study for humanitarian and security interventions, given its persistent instability and vulnerability to various crises.

Role in topic

HTI's ongoing humanitarian and security crises underscore the urgent need for effective international cooperation and sustainable development strategies in the region, serving as a stark reminder of the human cost of instability.

United States

USA is a significant external actor with historical and ongoing security interests and partnerships across Latin America.

Role in topic

USA's foreign policy and security assistance programs profoundly impact Latin American security. Its perspectives on counter-narcotics, migration, and regional stability are key to understanding the broader security environment.

China

CHN's growing economic and political influence in Latin America has implications for regional security dynamics and strategic alignments.

Role in topic

CHN's increasing investments and diplomatic engagement in Latin America are reshaping geopolitical dynamics, raising questions about economic dependencies, resource security, and strategic partnerships within the region.

Russia

RUS maintains strategic ties with several Latin American nations, influencing regional security through military cooperation and diplomatic relations.

Role in topic

RUS's military sales and diplomatic overtures to certain Latin American countries introduce an additional layer of complexity to regional security, challenging existing power balances and alliances.

Topics & background

The background behind each topic and the actors that shape it.

Regional Security Challenges in Latin America

Latin America faces a convergence of security challenges that have intensified over the past decade. Transnational organized crime — including the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels in Mexico, the Primeiro Comando da Capital in Brazil, and Tren de Aragua emanating from Venezuela — has expanded across borders, fuelling record homicide rates in Ecuador, Haiti and parts of Central America. Illicit economies in cocaine, illegal gold mining and environmental crime in the Amazon basin have eroded state authority in border regions, while migration flows through the Darién Gap have strained regional governance. Political instability compounds these pressures. Haiti's collapse into gang rule prompted the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support mission authorised by UNSC Resolution 2699 (2023); Ecuador declared an 'internal armed conflict' in January 2024; and democratic backsliding in Nicaragua, El Salvador's mega-prison model, and contested elections in Venezuela have divided regional responses. The OAS and CELAC remain split on how to address these crises, leaving ad-hoc coalitions to manage spillover effects. Today, regional militaries are increasingly deployed in internal security roles, raising concerns about civil-military relations and human rights. External powers — notably China through infrastructure and policing exports, and Russia through arms and disinformation — are deepening footprints once dominated by the United States, reshaping the strategic landscape.

Key players

Global Partnerships and Extra-Regional Engagement in Latin America

Latin America has become a contested arena for global partnerships as traditional US primacy gives way to a more multipolar pattern of engagement. China has emerged as the largest trading partner of South America, with 22 regional states now signed up to the Belt and Road Initiative, and Beijing's space tracking station in Neuquén, Argentina, alongside expanding port and 5G infrastructure, signals strategic as well as commercial reach. The EU revived its bi-regional summit format in 2023 and concluded the modernised EU–Mercosur agreement text in December 2024, though ratification remains uncertain. Russia retains legacy defence relationships with Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela and uses RT en Español as an information vector, while Iran has deepened ties with Caracas and Managua. Middle powers — the UK, Japan, South Korea, India and the Gulf states — are pursuing more tailored engagements covering critical minerals (lithium in the 'triangle' of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile), green hydrogen, and defence-industrial cooperation. The question for 2026 is whether Latin American states can leverage this competition for development gains while preserving 'active non-alignment,' a concept articulated by figures such as Brazil's Celso Amorim and Chilean scholars, or whether the region will be pulled into binary great-power blocs. Recent summits — G20 Rio 2024, APEC Lima 2024 and the EU–CELAC process — have tested that balancing act.

Key players

The UK–Latin America Defence Partnership

The United Kingdom's defence relationship with Latin America has historically been shaped by the legacy of the 1982 Falklands War and a permanent garrison at Mount Pleasant, but London's 2021 Integrated Review and its 2023 Refresh reframed the region as a partner on global challenges rather than merely a zone of residual interest. The UK maintains long-standing defence dialogues with Brazil, Chile and Colombia, sells equipment ranging from Type 26 frigates (the basis of Brazil's 'Tamandaré' programme in partnership with thyssenkrupp, and selected by Canada and Australia) to training packages, and hosts officers at Sandhurst, Shrivenham and the Royal College of Defence Studies. Colombia became a NATO 'global partner' in 2017, and the UK has supported its demining and peace-implementation efforts; Chile and the UK conduct regular naval exercises; and Brazil–UK cooperation has expanded around the Sea Ceptor missile system and carrier aviation expertise. The Falklands/Malvinas sovereignty dispute with Argentina remains a structural constraint, although the Cafiero–Cleverly communiqué of 2024 reopened limited dialogue under President Milei. Looking forward, the partnership agenda centres on maritime domain awareness in the South Atlantic and Caribbean, cyber capacity building, AUKUS Pillar II spillovers of interest to regional navies, and industrial offsets tied to defence sales. The challenge is to scale cooperation without overstating UK capacity in a region where the US, France and increasingly China are more present.

Key players

The Venezuelan Crisis

Venezuela's crisis is the product of more than a decade of economic collapse, authoritarian consolidation under Nicolás Maduro, and disputed elections. The 2018 vote was widely rejected, prompting Juan Guaidó's 2019 interim government recognised by some 60 states. Hyperinflation, US sectoral sanctions imposed from 2017 onward, and the implosion of PDVSA drove the largest displacement in the hemisphere's history: more than 7.7 million Venezuelans have left, according to R4V, principally to Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Chile and increasingly the United States via the Darién. The Barbados Agreement of October 2023 between the Maduro government and the Unitary Platform briefly raised hopes of competitive elections, leading the US to ease oil sanctions via General License 44. Those hopes collapsed after the 28 July 2024 presidential election: the CNE declared Maduro the winner without publishing tally sheets, while the opposition led by María Corina Machado and candidate Edmundo González released precinct-level results indicating a decisive González victory. The US, EU and most Latin American democracies have refused to recognise the result; Brazil, Colombia and Mexico have pursued a separate mediation track. Layered on top is the revived Essequibo dispute with Guyana, where Caracas held a December 2023 referendum claiming the oil-rich territory and has since deployed forces near the border, prompting ICJ provisional measures and CARICOM-led de-escalation efforts. The crisis now blends humanitarian, democratic, migration and inter-state dimensions.

Key players

Defence Cooperation in the Americas

Hemispheric defence cooperation rests on a mosaic of bilateral, sub-regional and inter-American mechanisms. The Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (Rio Treaty, 1947) and the Inter-American Defense Board remain formally in place, but operational cooperation flows mainly through US Southern Command exercises (UNITAS, PANAMAX, Tradewinds), the Conference of American Armies, and the Central American Armed Forces Conference (CFAC). Colombia's NATO global partnership and Argentina's renewed interest in major non-NATO ally status illustrate diverging trajectories. Procurement patterns reveal the competitive landscape: Brazil's KC-390 with Embraer, Argentina's selection of F-16s from Denmark over Chinese JF-17s in 2024, Colombia's pending fighter decision between Gripen, Rafale and F-16, and Ecuador's 2024 transfer of Russian-origin equipment to the US in exchange for replacements. Cybersecurity, disaster response (HADR), and counter-illicit-trafficking task forces such as JIATF-South have become more prominent than conventional inter-state planning. The agenda for 2026 includes maritime cooperation against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing — particularly Chinese distant-water fleets near the Galápagos and Argentine EEZ — Amazon basin coordination through SIVAM/SIPAM, women, peace and security implementation, and managing the militarisation of internal security missions without eroding civilian oversight.

Key players

Cyber Security and Digital Resilience in Latin America

Latin America has become one of the world's most targeted regions for cyberattacks while remaining one of the least prepared. Major incidents have included the 2022 Conti ransomware attack that forced Costa Rica to declare a national emergency, attacks on Chile's Banco de Chile and military Joint Chiefs of Staff, the 2023 breach of Colombia's IFX Networks affecting government services, and recurrent disruptions to Brazilian, Mexican and Argentine ministries. Cybercrime — phishing, banking trojans like Grandoreiro, and ransomware-as-a-service — costs the region tens of billions of dollars annually, according to OAS and IDB estimates. Institutional responses have lagged. Only a minority of states have national cyber strategies aligned with the 2021 OEWG framework on responsible state behaviour, and CSIRT capacity is uneven. The OAS Cybersecurity Program, the IDB's cybersecurity reports, and regional FIRST members provide baseline coordination, while Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Uruguay lead on policy maturity. Chile became the first Latin American state to sign the Budapest Convention's Second Additional Protocol on cross-border evidence. Geopolitically, the region is a battleground over 5G vendor choice (Huawei vs. Western suppliers), undersea cable routing, and subscription to competing cyber-norm frameworks at the UN. The 2026 agenda must address critical-infrastructure protection in energy and finance, election security amid heavy disinformation, and capacity building for smaller Caribbean and Central American states.

Key players

Artificial Intelligence Governance and Security in Latin America

Artificial intelligence has moved rapidly from a niche policy concern to a central regional agenda item. UNESCO's 2021 Recommendation on the Ethics of AI provided the first multilateral baseline, and most Latin American states have endorsed it via the 2023 Santiago Declaration on Ethical AI agreed at the CEPAL-hosted ministerial. Brazil's Senate has advanced PL 2338/2023, a risk-based AI bill inspired by the EU AI Act; Chile published an updated national AI policy in 2024; and Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay have national strategies of varying maturity. Security dimensions are increasingly salient. AI-enabled disinformation affected the 2023 Argentine and 2024 Mexican election cycles, deepfake fraud has hit regional banking systems, and predictive-policing tools deployed in Buenos Aires and São Paulo have raised civil-liberties concerns. Militarily, the region has limited indigenous AI defence capacity, but Brazilian and Mexican forces are piloting AI in border surveillance and ISR, often relying on Israeli, US or Chinese suppliers. The central tension for 2026 is between aligning with the EU's regulatory model — favoured by parts of Mercosur — and the more permissive US and Chinese approaches that emphasise innovation and state-led deployment, respectively. Compute scarcity, data-sovereignty rules and the role of regional cloud infrastructure are emerging as strategic concerns alongside the GGE discussions on lethal autonomous weapons.

Key players

Emerging Defence Technologies in the Latin American Theatre

Latin American militaries are confronting a defence-technology landscape transformed by uncrewed systems, space-based ISR, advanced missiles, and software-defined platforms — often without the budgets or industrial bases to keep pace. Brazil retains the region's most diversified defence industry through Embraer (KC-390, Super Tucano), Avibras and Mectron, and operates a satellite-launch programme through AEB. Mexico, Argentina and Chile maintain niche capabilities, while Colombia has become a significant exporter of small arms and ammunition via Indumil. Demand is shifting toward drones and counter-drone systems following lessons from Ukraine and Gaza: Brazil and Colombia have expanded UAV fleets, Ecuador and Peru are procuring tactical drones for counter-narcotics, and irregular actors — Mexican cartels, Colombian dissident groups, and Haitian gangs — are themselves weaponising commercial quadcopters. Space is a second frontier: Brazil's Alcântara launch site hosts US and other commercial partners under the 2019 Technology Safeguards Agreement, while Argentina's INVAP exports radar and small satellites. Suppliers are diversifying. The US remains dominant via FMS, but Israeli (Elbit, IAI), South Korean (KAI, Hanwha), Turkish (Baykar TB2), French and Swedish (Saab Gripen E in Brazil) firms have made significant inroads, with China offering financing-linked packages. For 2026, the policy questions concern industrial offsets, export controls on dual-use AI and drones, intellectual property in co-production agreements, and how the region positions itself within global supply chains for critical minerals that underpin defence technology.

Key players

Resources

News, lessons, and country profiles to prep for RUSI Latin American Security Conference 2026.

Recent reporting to ground your prep

India, South Korea Forge Five-Year Plan

Federal Court Blocks Trump's Asylum Rules

France's New Strategy: Kenya as Africa Hub

OpenAI, Anthropic Brief Congress on AI Risks

Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

Hidden Stakeholders

Engagement Strategies

Dynamic Analysis

Stakeholder Mapping Workshop

Courses

Guided courses that go deeper on the topic

Advanced Negotiation

Multilateral Negotiation

Policy Brief Writing

Conflict Resolution

United Kingdom January 2026

By committee

Frequently asked questions

RUSI Latin American Security Conference 2026

Jan 29, 2026London, United KingdomIn-person

Registration open

Committees & topics

Topics
Regional Security Challenges in Latin America · Global Partnerships and Extra-Regional Engagement in Latin America · The UK–Latin America Defence Partnership · The Venezuelan Crisis · Defence Cooperation in the Americas · Cyber Security and Digital Resilience in Latin America · Artificial Intelligence Governance and Security in Latin America · Emerging Defence Technologies in the Latin American Theatre

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 9 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

United Kingdom

As the host nation, GBR provides a neutral ground for discussions on Latin American security, aiming to facilitate dialogue and knowledge exchange without direct regional intervention.

Role in topic

Brazil

BRA, as a major regional power, is a key stakeholder in Latin American security, influencing regional stability and cooperation efforts.

Role in topic

Mexico

MEX faces unique security challenges, particularly related to transnational crime and border security, making its experiences and strategies highly relevant.

Role in topic

Colombia

COL has extensive experience in addressing internal conflicts and post-conflict peacebuilding, providing valuable insights into security sector reform and reconciliation.

Role in topic

Ecuador

ECU's evolving security landscape, including challenges related to organized crime and political stability, represents a significant area of focus for regional security discussions.

Role in topic

Haiti

HTI represents a critical case study for humanitarian and security interventions, given its persistent instability and vulnerability to various crises.

Role in topic

United States

USA is a significant external actor with historical and ongoing security interests and partnerships across Latin America.

Role in topic

China

CHN's growing economic and political influence in Latin America has implications for regional security dynamics and strategic alignments.

Role in topic

Russia

RUS maintains strategic ties with several Latin American nations, influencing regional security through military cooperation and diplomatic relations.

Role in topic

RUS's military sales and diplomatic overtures to certain Latin American countries introduce an additional layer of complexity to regional security, challenging existing power balances and alliances.