The ELN has become an increasingly binational insurgency, with major political implications for the region.

Armas, drogas y, naturalmente, el muro. He aquí qué opinan los candidatos presidenciales demócratas sobre varias políticas de seguridad nacional y cómo pueden afectar las relaciones con América Latina.

"[They] get by week-to-week during normal circumstances. If everything is shut down, how do they feed themselves and their families?" said AS/COA's Carin Zissis to CNN about informal workers.

Guns, drugs, and, naturally, the wall. Here’s where the Democratic presidential candidates stood on a range of security policies and how they affect Latin American relations.

AS/COA's Eric Farnsworth said to Associated Press that he didn’t expect the United States would act against the Iranian tankers as such an act could escalate too quickly. 

"En la región latinoamericana hemos visto que las áreas metropolitanas masivas como Sao Paulo son los epicentros", dice Carin Zissis de AS/COA a Deutsche Welle.

Experts from academia and the public and private sectors will examine the most pressing traditional and nontraditional security challenges facing the Western Hemisphere.