CRIME AND SECURITY
Is drone warfare becoming the new normal in Latin America?
The US Air Force has used MQ-9 Reaper drones over the US-Mexico border in Arizona. Photo: Senior Airman Andrew Lee/USAF
Last week, Colombian President Gustavo Petro mistakenly announced that a drone packed with explosives had shot down a police helicopter surveying coca fields, killing at least 13. A subsequent investigation revealed that the chopper was in fact destroyed by a bomb buried near a routine landing site, in what authorities described as an attack by dissidents of the FARC guerrilla group.
While Petro’s claim proved false, the error underscored the growing role of unmanned aerial vehicles in crime, law enforcement and military affairs across Latin America…
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