Drug trafficking is one of the greatest threats to Ecuador’s national security. To combat it, Ecuadorian Army Major General Nelson Proaño Rodríguez, head of the Armed Forces ‘Joint Command, designs strategies and carries out coordinated actions to confront crime. Maj. Gen. Proaño spoke with Diálogo about drug trafficking and the [ … ]
The Ecuadorian Navy is committed to interoperability, maritime security, and the fight against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. This is made possible thanks to multiple operations and training such as Multinational Maritime Authority Exercise GALAPEX II, held September 17-October 1, 2023, in the Galápagos Islands. Ecuadorian Navy Admiral Oscar [ … ]
U.S. Navy expeditionary fast transport USNS Burlington (T-EPF 10) deployed in August and September to four nations in Latin America and the Caribbean, bringing hope to hundreds of local citizens who, otherwise, would not have access to medical and dental care, among other benefits. This was made possible thanks to [ … ]
Brigadier General Jorge Fabián Berredo, operational commander of the Argentine Armed Forces’ Joint Chiefs of Staff, wants to transform the operational command into an active, diligent entity that strengthens the Joint Armed Forces Command. Brig. Gen. Berredo spoke with Diálogo about Antarctic campaigns, United Nations peacekeeping missions that include Argentine [ … ]
Colombia hosted the South American Defense Conference (SOUTHDEC) 2023 in Cartagena, Colombia, September 22-24. SOUTHDEC is a U.S. Southern Command- (SOUTHCOM) organized annual regional security forum aimed at fostering cooperative ties, examining challenges, sharing lessons learned, and enhancing security and defense cooperation. General Helder Fernán Giraldo Bonilla, commander general of [ … ]
Graciela Isabel Mauad Ponce took over as head of Panama’s National Secretariat for Children, Adolescents, and the Family (SENNIAF) in May 2021. Since then, one of her tasks has been to attend to the situation of migrant children and adolescents who cross the thick Darién jungle on the border between [ … ]
More than 6,000 men and women of the National Border Service (SENAFRONT) tirelessly guard Panama’s land and river borders. Their mission: to relentlessly combat transnational criminal organizations and criminal gangs and curb the flow of unauthorized migrants seeking to enter Panama. SENAFRONT’s new director, Commissioner Jorge Luis Gobea Trejos, appointed [ … ]
Panamanian security agencies came together under the Shield Campaign to counter transnational criminal organizations that commit crimes against the illegal migrant population that crosses the dangerous Colombia-Panama border. Commissioner Danis Villarreal, current deputy director of the Panamanian National Border Service (SENAFRONT), who at the time of his interview with Diálogo [ … ]
The Panamanian National Air and Naval Service (SENAN) carries out naval and air operations to provide protection, surveillance, security, and defense of the country’s air and maritime jurisdictional areas. The SENAN has some 2,500 agents, 45 vessels, and some 40 aircraft. Commissioner Rafael Jurado, SENAN’s national director of Air and [ … ]
Maintaining and guaranteeing public order at the national level is the primary objective of John Dornheim Castillo, director general of the Panamanian National Police. To achieve this, he works toward eradicating criminal organizations that engage in narcotrafficking, money laundering, illicit arms and human trafficking, while also promoting campaigns for citizen [ … ]
Panama’s security agencies have joined forces under a single operational center that fights crime in a united way and strengthens the regional fight against international criminal organizations. This is Panama’s Regional Center for Aeronaval Operations (CROAN), which, since its February 2021 inception, has fought against narcotrafficking by sea and air; [ … ]
Juan Manuel Pino serves as Panama’s minister of Public Security since February 5, 2020. Since then, he has been committed to focusing his country’s security agencies on teamwork as one of the fundamental aspects to combat criminal organizations, providing border security by land, sea, and air; confronting illegal migration; eradicating [ … ]
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