THREE DECADES SINCE THE PANAMA BOMBING: THE HEZBOLLAH CONNECTION AND ALI ZAKI’S EXTRADITION

For decades, Ali Zaki Hage Jalil was shielded in Venezuela. Only after the country’s U.S.-backed political shift did justice become possible for the 1994 Alas Chiricanas Flight 901 bombing, which killed 21 people.

AFTER MADURO: CHALLENGES FOR STABILIZING VENEZUELA

Maduro’s capture opened a path toward Venezuela’s stabilization and recovery. Success requires dismantling Iran’s operational footprint, severing military–militia links, and cutting illicit revenue (drug trafficking, shadow fleets, illegal mining, money laundering).

Photo by: AFP

NEUTRALIZING IRAN’S MILITARY FOOTPRINT IN VENEZUELA

Iran has established a dangerous military arsenal in Venezuela, operational Mohajer-6 combat drones, Shahed-style loitering munitions, Nasr-1 anti-ship missiles, and fast-attack boats, with local assembly facilities and embedded Iranian personnel.

Photo by: Atta Kenarea / AFP

U.S. OPERATION IN VENEZUELA: SELF-DEFENSE AGAINST A HYBRID AGGRESSOR

The United States conducted a military operation on Venezuelan territory which, according to President Donald Trump, included a large-scale attack and resulted in the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his removal from the country.

VENEZUELA AS BRIDGEHEAD: TREASURY SANCTIONS EXPOSE IRAN’S DRONE CAPABILITY MOVING CLOSER TO THE UNITED STATES

The new U.S. Treasury designations underscore what SFS has documented for years: Venezuela is Iran’s Western Hemisphere bridgehead. The Tehran-Caracas drone pipeline is embedding capability closer to U.S. territory.

Photo by: U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office

WEAPONIZED CHAOS: THE RISE OF TREN DE ARAGUA AS VENEZUELA’S PROXY FORCE, 2014–2025

SFS is launching a new report. It shows how a Venezuelan prison gang evolved into a transnational proxy threatening security across the Americas.

Photo by: AFP

A STRATEGIC OPENING: FIGHTING HAITI'S CRIMINAL INSURGENCY

Florida International University has published the study “A Strategic Opening: Fighting Haiti’s Criminal Insurgency,” developed by researchers from the Irregular Warfare Initiative and the Center for a Secure Free Society.

Photo by: AFP

THE U.S. SANCTION ON PETRO: A RESPONSE TO COLOMBIA’S COUNTER-NARCOTICS SETBACK

For the Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS), the measures announced by the U.S. Treasury are accurate and appropriate. They reflect concern and solidarity with the Colombian people, not hostility toward them. The U.S. Treasury directs them squarely at those political actors who, by action or omission, have enabled the normalization of drug trafficking

Photo by: AFP

THE DISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN TARGETS SFS IN AN ATTEMPT TO VICTIMIZE THE MADURO REGIME

The Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS) is a leading think tank that investigates transnational crime and its convergence with criminalized states and extra-regional actors. SFS investigations play a central role in exposing the most significant threats to the Western Hemisphere.

Photo: Juan Barreto / AFP

IRAN’S LATIN AMERICAN STRATEGY: LEVERAGING ASYMMETRIC WARFARE TO PROJECT CONFLICT INTO THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE

A new report from SFS, explores how Tehran is building a platform to destabilize the West Hemisphere and undermine U.S. security and influence through proxy networks, criminal convergence, and strategic alliances with authoritarian regimes.

Photo: AFP

THE CENTER FOR A SECURE FREE SOCIETY CALLS FOR HEMISPHERIC UNITY AGAINST IRAN’S NUCLEAR THREAT AND ITS TERRORIST PROXIES

The Iranian regime exports instability worldwide, particularly to the Western Hemisphere.

Photo by: Atta Kenare / AFP

THE CENTER FOR A SECURE FREE SOCIETY (SFS) PROUDLY CONGRATULATES JOSEPH M. HUMIRE

on his appointment as the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense Integration and Defense Support of Civil Authorities.

Photo: SFS

READ NOW OUR FIRST UPDATE TO THE TDA ACTIVITY MONITOR

We release our first major 2025 update to the Tren de Aragua Activity Monitor, an interactive website that tracks the arrests, deportations, and major cases of the TdA in the United States.

Photo: X/PressSec

2025 WESTERN HEMISPHERE SECURITY FORUM

On January 18, 2025 a distinguished group of policymakers, presidents, and leading thinkers from 15 countries throughout the Western Hemisphere and Europe gathered in Washington D.C. for the Western Hemisphere Security Forum.

Photo: SFS

ARGENTINA REVEALS THE IDENTITY OF HEZBOLLAH’S TERRORIST LEADER IN LATIN AMERICA

SFS applauds Argentina’s leadership in denouncing Hezbollah’s crime-terror operations in Latin America.

Photo by: Ministry of Security, Republic of Argentina

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