ABSTRACT
This chapter describes how the strategic behavior of irregular threats in Latin America has changed since the end of the Cold War. During the 1980s, El Salvador’s Farabundo Marti Liberation Front achieved a high level of military sophistication due to support from the Soviet bloc. In parallel, Peru’s Shining Path developed a self-financing insurgency based on its control of the drug industry. The Colombian FARC integrated both features—military sophistication and financial autonomy—to build a guerrilla army that allowed it to challenge the Colombian state. At the same time, the so-called United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia emerged as a loose coalition of vigilante groups and criminal gangs deeply involved in drug trafficking. Finally, the creation of the Los Zetas cartel by a group of Mexican Army defectors had a significant impact on Mexico’s security as they applied irregular warfare techniques to fight other gangs, a behavior that was later emulated by other groups. The chapter also examines transnational Islamist terrorist groups operating in the region, specifically Hezbollah and the Islamic State.
