How Russian Surveillance Tech is Reshaping Latin America

27 September 2024

Authors:

Doug Farah, Senior Advisor and Director for Latin America Programs, International Coalition Against Illicit Economies (ICAIE)

Description:

Over the past decade, Russian-based companies have provided sophisticated surveillance technology to several Latin American countries. These technologies are critical to the survival of the repressive regimes in Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba, and possibly criminal nonstate actors that weaken democracy and threaten U.S. national security.

The transfer of surveillance technologies and other cyber activities, often run by Russian intelligence officials directly tied to Russia’s state cyber structures, goes beyond traditionally understood gray zone activities. While these technologies empower the region’s most repressive regimes and criminal threat networks, they also give Russia access to key military, law enforcement, and financial data in multiple countries in the Western Hemisphere.

Publisher

Florida International University

Recommended Citation

Farah, Doug, ICAIE, “How Russian Surveillance Tech is Reshaping Latin America” (2024). Research Publications. 67.