The Brazilian Navy and 32 countries from the American, African, and European continents participated in the 12th iteration of Obangame Express, the largest multinational maritime exercise in West and Central Africa, conducted by U.S. Naval Forces in Africa (NAVAF), and sponsored by U.S. Africa Command. Nigeria hosted the January 23-February [ … ]
The U.S. government donated a Cessna Caravan 208 aircraft to Belize’s Ministry of National Defence and Border Security at a handover ceremony March 2 at the Williamson Hanger Complex in Ladyville. U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) donated the aircraft through the U.S. Foreign Military Financing program. The handover ceremony included remarks [ … ]
On January 9, the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP), of U.S.-based nongovernmental organization (NGO) Amazon Conservation, said that according to satellite images more than 750 hectares of the Yacapana National Park in the Venezuelan Amazon had been deforested between 2021 and 2022 — all for illegal gold mining [ … ]
The Colombian Navy’s Caribbean Naval Force (FNC) recently presented its results for 2022 in the areas of security and development. These included the seizure of more than 153 tons of narcotics; the capture of 1,198 members of different criminal groups, among them 10 leaders; and the execution of 64 search [ … ]
USCGC Stone (WMSL 758) arrived in the port of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for a scheduled visit, March 7. The visit is Stone’s second stop in Brazil as the cutter continues its multi-mission deployment in the South Atlantic Ocean, exhibiting the U.S. Coast Guard’s partnership with Brazil and strengthening the [ … ]
In late December 2022, NOAA Fisheries, responsible for managing the United States’ ocean resources, announced a plan to expand and update the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) aimed at curbing illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing worldwide. “The program is one of several tools NOAA utilizes to combat IUU fishing [ … ]
Demonstrations in Iran that erupted in September 2022 over the death of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the morality police for allegedly wearing her headscarf improperly, rapidly expanded into a movement calling for the ousting of the theocratic regime in place for more than five decades. While the regime [ … ]
A multipurpose port project in Río Grande, Argentina set to be built with funds from a Chinese company has sparked controversy due to global conflict risks, EFE news agency reported. Río Grande is a city located on the northeast coast of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, in the Argentine [ … ]
U.S. Special Operations Forces consisting of Civil Affairs, Psychological Operations, and Special Forces service members that make up Cross Functional Team-Guyana, facilitated the donation of medical equipment, February 3, to a hospital in Linden, Guyana. Through the U.S. Department of Defense’s Humanitarian Assistance Program, the U.S. Embassy and Cross Functional [ … ]
Washington, D.C.-based think tank Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS) hosted the 2023 Western Hemisphere Security Forum on January 19, bringing together political leaders and defense, intelligence, and law enforcement officials of the region to analyze issues such as threats to democracies in Latin America and strategies to confront [ … ]
Chinese companies have been hiding behind mining cooperatives to extract gold in the northern regions of the department of La Paz, Bolivia. These cooperatives receive an income in exchange for maintaining secrecy. These Chinese companies have been enriching themselves with Bolivian gold without paying taxes, while polluting and damaging the [ … ]
In January, Ecuador’s National Police stepped up its fight against arms and explosives trafficking, capturing 19 criminals involved in the transport, stockpiling, and distribution of arms and ammunition. Police carried out Operation Armed Border (Operación Frontera Armada) in the provinces of Carchi, Imbabura, Pichincha, Cañar, Azuay, El Oro, and Loja. [ … ]
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