Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro visited U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) March 8 to meet with U.S. Navy Admiral Craig Faller, SOUTHCOM commander, as well as other command and Department of Defense leaders. Bolsonaro’s historic visit marks the first time a Brazilian president has visited SOUTHCOM. The leaders discussed the growing defense [ … ]
The U.S. announced sanctions targeting Russian oil company Rosneft’s trading unit, Rosneft Trading S.A., on February 18 and the Venezuelan state-run airline Conviasa on February 7. Both actions aim to stop the flow of money to the Nicolás Maduro regime and compel Maduro to allow free and fair elections. Rosneft [ … ]
U.S. President Donald Trump defended aerial spraying of illicit crops in the fight against drugs, during his meeting with Colombian counterpart Iván Duque at the White House, March 2. The Duque government wants to resume the controversial aerial method. The Duque government hopes to resume aerial fumigation to counter narcotrafficking, [ … ]
For the first time in the history of Colombia’s participation in peacekeeping missions, a female Army officer deployed to North Africa. Colombian Army First Lieutenant Zuly Vannesa Lugo Varón works as a military peace observer since February in the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO, in [ … ]
Twenty years ago, the Salvadoran Armed Force (FAES, in Spanish) opened its doors to female candidates at the Captain General Gerardo Barrios Military School. Since then, more than 1,500 women have joined the force. In early 2020, female participation within FAES includes 128 officers, three noncommissioned officers, and 480 troops. [ … ]
In recent years, Russian oil company Rosneft increased its presence in Venezuela. What’s its purpose? Voice of America spoke with several analysts who said that the Russian state-owned company is not driven by gas or oil needs. Rather, its interest consists of “geopolitical reasons” aimed at eventually controlling the Latin [ … ]
In mid-February, Venezuelan militia members participated in a national military exercise with the National Bolivarian Armed Forces (FANB, in Spanish). The event, which included street patrols, simulated armed combat, and even training with portable air-defense systems, debuted the Bolivarian Militia as an official branch of FANB. On February 4, Nicolás [ … ]
In the midst of a violent environment against the independent media in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, journalists are denouncing the interference of these regimes through social media, a tool for resistance, says Guillermo Medrano, coordinator for Human Rights at the Violeta Chamorro Foundation, a Nicaraguan nongovernmental organization (NGO) that advocates [ … ]
In an interview with Voice of America, U.S. Department of State spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said that it was necessary for more countries in the region to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. Ortagus added that the Nicolás Maduro regime provides a safe haven to Hezbollah members. Two decades ago, the [ … ]
Brazilian Air Force (FAB, in Portuguese) First Lieutenant Juliana Santos de Souza became the first female flight instructor for the T-27 Tucano, an aircraft used for cadet pilots in their fourth year of basic training at the Air Force Academy (AFA), in Pirassununga, São Paulo. February 3, 2020 marked the [ … ]
On January 8, 2020, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador inaugurated the facilities of the Secretariat of the National Defense’s Joint Training Center for Peacekeeping Operations (CECOPAM, in Spanish) in Huehuetoca, Mexico. In 2015, the country resumed its participation in United Nations (U.N.) led peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance operations. “For [ … ]
Cuba’s influence has caused a sharp increase in brutal torture methods used on prisoners in Venezuela, according to a recent report by the CASLA Institute, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) that promotes human rights and democracy in Latin America. In 2019, Luis Almagro, secretary general of the Organization of American States, [ … ]
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