On March 5 the United States slapped sanctions on Nicaragua’s National Police and three top police commissioners for what it calls serious human rights abuses against anti-government demonstrators. “The [Daniel] Ortega regime has utilized the Nicaraguan National Police as a tool in its campaign of violent repression against the Nicaraguan [ … ]
Colombia’s Military Offensive Against Cocaine
On February 21, 2020, service members of the 24th Infantry Battalion of the Colombian Army’s 22nd Jungle Brigade, together with units of Colombia’s Anti-narcotics Police, located and dismantled a lab that produced about 1,323 pounds of cocaine hydrochloride a month in Miraflores municipality, Guaviare department. [caption id="attachment_33067" align="alignright" width="577"] The [ … ]
WHINSEC, Educating Ethical Leaders of the Future
Diálogo spoke with U.S. Army Colonel John Dee Suggs, commandant of the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), during his visit to U.S. Southern Command’s headquarters in Doral, Florida. Diálogo: The mission of WHINSEC is to be the premiere educational training institute in the Western Hemisphere for security and [ … ]
SOUTHCOM Provides Equipment to Peruvian Volunteer Firefighters
U.S. Southern Command’s (SOUTHCOM) Humanitarian Assistance Program (HAP) delivered 170 sets of safety equipment, valued at $483,000, to 34 rural companies of the General Corps of Volunteer Firefighters of Peru (CGBVP, in Spanish), on February 11, 2020. “This is a very important donation, because in the last seven years we [ … ]
Guatemalan Service Members Stop Tons of Cocaine from Reaching the North
The Guatemalan Armed Forces have seized more than 40 tons of cocaine in different operations in the last three years. The Army, Navy, Air Force, and National Civil Police constantly coordinate to face regional narcotrafficking. [caption id="attachment_33021" align="alignright" width="423"] The Guatemalan Army conducts routine patrols in different parts of the [ … ]
Copper Thefts in Chile Linked to China
In mid-January 2020, Chilean security forces made the largest seizure of contraband copper, about 80 tons estimated at $305 million, found in a junkyard of the Lampa community, 22 miles northwest of Santiago de Chile. Chile’s Investigations Police (PDI, in Spanish) said in a press conference that the metal was [ … ]
Coalition Improves Protest Logistics in Nicaragua
The pressure against Nicaragua’s regime is increasing with the launch of a new national coalition that brings together several opposition organizations to restore democracy in the country. The police has responded by strengthening security to prevent protests against President Daniel Ortega. “The regime fears a wave of protests as these [ … ]
SOUTHCOM Deploying More Ships, Forces to Latin America
U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) plans to increase U.S. military presence in the Western Hemisphere while taking on funding cuts to security programs that help Latin American partners counter drug cartels. In written testimony March 11, U.S. Navy Admiral Craig S. Faller, SOUTHCOM commander, said the U.S. “only enabled the successful [ … ]
JTF-Bravo, Honduran Leaders Recognize Strong Bonds at Soto Cano
Joint Task Force Bravo (JTF-Bravo) hosted Honduran military and civilian leaders at Soto Cano Air Base in Comayagua, Honduras, February 28, 2020, to strengthen partnerships and recognize the value of continued camaraderie. Among the attendees was retired Honduran Air Force General José Enrique Soto Cano, namesake for the air base, [ … ]
First Woman Leading Coast Guard Station in Colombia
The Colombian Navy has 15 Coast Guard stations tasked to counter crime at sea, monitor environmental protection, and contribute to search and rescue operations to ensure maritime security throughout the territory. For the first time in the history of the Colombian naval institution, a woman is leading one of these [ … ]
Brazilian Armed Forces Fight Environmental Crimes in the Amazon
Recent data from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE, in Portuguese) indicates that the Brazilian Amazon lost 3,769 square miles of vegetation in a single year. The deforested area, which is larger than Puerto Rico, refers to the period of August 2018-July 2019, and increased 29.5 percent compared to [ … ]
Fear of Coronavirus in Venezuela: ‘What Do I Do With Masks, If I Don’t Have Water or Electricity?’
Without water, health preservation is an impossible task, Venezuelan doctors and nurses say to illustrate their fear and concerns about the risk of a coronavirus outbreak in the country. They say that hospitals lack medication, surgical equipment, and primary care supplies, such as masks, I.V. drips, and thermometers, or a [ … ]