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Latin America's High-Tech Warriors

By Frank Mora, Brian Fonseca

Defense budgets get a boost from science.

Interstate conflict is rare in Latin America. Yet some nations in the region are emerging as world leaders in advanced military technology. From drones to complex border surveillance systems, their research and development (R&D) laboratories have come up with sophisticated tools to counter this century’s unconventional threats to national security.

That’s reflected in part by a 15 percent increase in military spending in the region between 2010 and 2013—a sharp contrast with the global decrease in military budgets. Total defense spending for Latin America and the Caribbean...

Read this article on the Americas Quarterly website. | Subscribe to AQ.

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