Mike LaSusa

Border Patrol is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with 'suspicious' travel patterns The U.S. Border Patrol is monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide in a secretive program to identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious.

Another example of powerful, invasive, mass surveillance tech being wielded by US immigration authorities. So much about these programs is hidden from the public, making it difficult to know whether they keep Americans safe or violate privacy protections.
apnews.com/article/immi...

20.11.2025 15:49 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

🇺🇸 | The US move to label the Cartel of the Suns a Foreign Terrorist Organization ratchets up the pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. But as @mikelasusa explained to @bbcmundo, it risks conflating crime and terrorism — two very different issues: https://bit.ly/3JUqbIA

17.11.2025 23:02 — 👍 1    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

Ecuador rejects U.S. military bases in major defeat for President Noboa Ecuadorians have decisively rejected a series of referendum measures, including plans for U.S. military bases and constitutional changes, handing President Daniel Noboa a major political setback amid ...

Ecuadorians largely backed Noboa's hardline security policies in a referendum in 2024. The defeat of this proposal to bring back US military bases is likely a sign of flagging support for those policies, as well as rejection of the US strikes on drug boats
www.npr.org/2025/11/17/n...

17.11.2025 16:18 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Mexico to intercept suspected drug boats to prevent further US strikes The Mexican president announces that a protocol for working in international waters has been agreed upon with a view to stopping the attacks

Interesting how Sheinbaum navigates pressure from Trump: appeasing without acquiescing. Rejecting air strikes while offering alternative measures, similar to managing tariff threats by promising more border security and handing over high-value targets english.elpais.com/internationa...

14.11.2025 17:06 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

The Trump admin’s push for harsher anti-crime measures at home and across Latin America comes as the US public is growing wary of heavy-handed policies. Rebranding it as a fight against “terrorism” makes force-based policies easier to sell. news.gallup.com/poll/697244/...

12.11.2025 18:07 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

UK and Colombia suspending intelligence-sharing with the US shows the airstrikes on boats are causing big rifts in important anti-crime and security relationships

12.11.2025 17:16 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Skyrocketing extortion rates are shaking Peru. The president was just ousted over rising crime. And the Pulpos gang is at the center of the problem. I talked with investigator Beatriz Vicent about who they are and how they operate: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lobi...

11.11.2025 18:24 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

French FM Vows To 'Defeat' Drug Trade On Colombia Trip France's foreign minister vowed Saturday to "defeat" rapidly spreading drug trafficking in Europe, as he spoke to AFP on a trip to Colombia, a major narcotics producer.

France is doubling down on its promises to get more involved in fighting organized crime in Latin America. Plans announced for a regional academy in the Dominican Republic, months after revealing a new high-security prison project in French Guiana:
www.barrons.com/news/french-...

10.11.2025 15:07 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Weekly InSight | LatAm Organized Crime: Terrorists or Drug Traffickers?

In this week's @insightcrime.org newsletter, I discuss the recent deadly anti-gang raid in Rio and how Washington’s “terrorist” framing of Latin America’s criminal groups may give cover to this type of aggressive operations. Read more (and sign up!) 👉

07.11.2025 15:52 — 👍 2    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0

Trump admin tells Congress it currently lacks legal justification to strike Venezuela | CNN Politics The “execute order” that launched the US military campaign against suspected drug boats in September also does not extend to land targets, the briefers said, according to the sources.

The Trump administration told Congress there's currently no legal basis for military action inside Venezuela, CNN reports. It's the clearest signal yet that the US may be backpedaling from the aggressive posture of the last several weeks. www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/p...

06.11.2025 20:46 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Costa Rica Launches Massive Operation Against Drug Cartel Costa Rica executes the largest operation in OIJ history, deploying 1,200 officers for 64 raids to dismantle the South Caribbean Cartel

Costa Rica just launched a huge operation to take down the "South Caribbean Cartel." It adds to a string of developments this year that clearly show Costa Rica can no longer be considered relatively crime-free compared to its neighbors. ticotimes.net/2025/11/04/c...

05.11.2025 16:28 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

The idea of declaring crime groups as "terrorists" is spreading throughout Latin America. The label blurs two distinct phenomena, but it's nevertheless being used to justify extreme, often deadly measures, despite no evidence that such policies deliver lasting security gains.

03.11.2025 18:23 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

The legendary Honduran drug trafficker Juan Ramon Matta Ballesteros has died in US federal prison. I talked with
@samwoolston.bsky.social about his life an legacy:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHHv...

31.10.2025 18:12 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0