Peru: Border Security Threats

The end of the Cold War marked the beginning of a series of events in Latin America; first, the return of democracy after years of military rule; and then, the emergence of new threats to the internal security of countries. Peru is no exception in confronting threats: terrorism, drug trafficking, narcoterrorism, illegal mining, illegal logging, and organized crime, among others. These threats are affecting the internal order, the environment, the economy and the health of the Peruvian population.
With the advent of democracy, the solution to border problems, and the emergence of threats that affect the internal security, it was necessary for the Peruvian government to assign new roles to the military. Initially, the armed forces began their …show more content…
Because of unsuccessful police operations, the government decided, in 1983, to fight this threat with the armed forces. Many successes and defeats occurred over 35 years fighting terrorism. The strategy used was not successful due to not involving the government, the military, and the population combating these threats. Only when the government decided to combine these three elements was the strategy successful. Another difficulty was the symbiosis of terrorism with drug trafficking, which makes it harder to combat both …show more content…
According to Mr. Rice de Lauter, Deputy J-2 Director, U.S. Southern Command, there are two main problems. First, governments have been unable and unwilling to promote equitable development to end corruption and combat the growing criminal activity. Second, the trained forces were assigned to other jobs after a few years of fighting, so it has been necessary to train other members continuously, becoming a vicious cycle. Colonel Orellana considered negative the participation of the Central America Forces combating crime because they do not have the operational management in the fight against crime. They only provide support and assistance to the