The Center for International Policy and the Washington Office on Latin America are pleased to invite you to:
Using Militaries as Police in Latin America:
A Discussion on Citizen Security and the Way Forward
Featuring
Adam Blackwell
Secretary for Multidimensional Security, Organization of American States
Dr. Richard R. Downie
Executive Vice President for Global Strategies, OMNITRU
Vanda Felbab-Brown,
Senior Fellow, Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence in the Foreign Policy Program, Brookings Institute
Discussant
Adam Isacson
Senior Associate for Regional Security Policy, Washington Office on Latin America
Moderator
Sarah Kinosian
Lead Researcher on Latin America, Center for International Policy
Tuesday, September 8th
2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Center for International Policy
2000 M Street NW
Conference Room A (located in the basement)
Washington, DC 20036
To RSVP please email Ted Lynch at tlynch@ciponline.org.
For more information, please contact Sarah Kinosian at sarah@ciponline.org.
With high murder rates, abusive security forces and weak institutions, what’s the best way forward for citizen security in Central America? Across the region, governments are sending their militaries into the streets to act as de facto police forces in the face of soaring violence, pervasive corruption and ineffective public security institutions.
To handle Central America’s violence crisis, Guatemala, Honduras and most recently El Salvador have all turned to their troops to provide domestic security. Advocates of this tactic highlight that the general population often supports deploying the armed forces and say the presence of soldiers deters violence in the short-term. Opponents point to increased human rights abuses carried out by troops and say it is ultimately ineffective in improving long-term security.
Please join us for a discussion that addresses why governments use this strategy and how doing so affects populations, overall security and civil-military relations.
