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Security & Cooperation On November 4, training ship Brasil docked at Mayport Naval Base, in Jacksonville, Florida. After two weeks at sea, sailing from Brazil to the United States, the stop at the American port was the first planned by the Brazilian Navy (MB, in Portuguese) ship, which is carrying out its 34th Midshipmen Training Trip. There are 400 students of MB’s Naval…
Emerging Threats The Chilean government is boosting its space program with a new National Satellite System. The project, which Chilean President Sebastián Piñera announced in October, will include the launch of three satellites and will also have three ground stations to receive data and information. The initiative, led by the Chilean Air Force (FACh, in Spanish), coordinates and integrates activities of the…
Security & Cooperation After nearly a month of supporting foreign humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (FHA/DR) operations under authorities granted by the U.S. Acting Secretary of Defense, at the request of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) and Joint Task Force Bravo (JTF-Bravo) concluded immediate response missions for hurricanes Eta and Iota in Central America on December 2, 2020.…
Transnational Crime During a joint operation, the Colombian Military Forces and the National Police neutralized on October 25, 2020, Andrés Felipe Vanegas Londoño, alias Uriel, a leader of the National Liberation Army (ELN, in Spanish) who was identified as the third commander of the western war front. “One of the most visible figures of that terrorist organization has fallen,” said Colombian President…
Transnational Crime In a statement issued on October 13, 2020, the Lima Group urged that complaints about human rights violations in Venezuela included in a United Nations report, serve as evidence for the International Criminal Court in its investigations into the illegitimate Nicolás Maduro regime. “[The Lima Group governments] condemn the systematic violations of human rights perpetrated by the illegitimate regime of…
Security & Cooperation A task force of approximately 25 people and three aircraft assigned to the 1st Battalion, 228th Aviation Regiment, Joint Task Force Bravo (JTF-Bravo) returned to Honduras from Guatemala City, Guatemala, on November 28. Their return comes after the U.S. military personnel rapidly deployed to Guatemala City for a second time on November 21 to assist local government officials in rescue…
Strategic Influence In early October, Venezuela’s illegitimate National Constituent Assembly (ANC, in Spanish) handed dictator Nicolás Maduro a law that enables him to omit or “disregard” compliance with other laws for the purpose of circumventing sanctions imposed by the international community and bolstering foreign investment. The so-called Anti-blockade Law for National Development and the Guarantee of Human Rights has the explicit purpose…
Strategic Influence On October 13, I presented work on foreign deepwater fishing fleets in Latin America, to a virtual event held by the highly respected World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL). The event was held as 340 fishing vessels, mostly Chinese, moved from the Galápagos Islands, where they were believed to have illegally fished in a United Nations World Heritage Site, and continued their activities off the coasts of Peru and Chile.…
Transnational Crime The Peruvian government has taken a new step toward pacifying the Apurímac, Ene, and Mantaro Rivers Valley (VRAEM, in Spanish), by creating a command combining the Peruvian Armed Forces and the National Police (PNP, in Spanish) to respond to narcotrafficking and terrorism in the vast region, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement. On October 9, 2020, military and…
Transnational Crime On October 21, the Honduran Air Force, upon receiving intelligence from Colombia, intercepted a narco-aircraft in Brus Laguna municipality, Gracias a Dios department, coming from Venezuela, the Honduran Office of the Attorney General said in a statement. In total, authorities counted more than 200 kilograms of cocaine that the aircraft transported. This case, the Office of the Attorney General said,…
Transnational Crime Commander Uriel, one of the main leaders of Colombia’s left-wing National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels, was killed during a military operation, President Iván Duque announced on October 25. “This is a particularly important blow [to the ELN] because one of the most visible figures of this terrorist organization has fallen,” the president said in a speech in Chocó department, in…
Security & Cooperation Two U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress aircraft participated in Brother’s Shield, a Colombian Air Force-led exercise, and in UNITAS LXI, an Ecuadorean Navy-led exercise in U.S. Southern Command’s Area of Responsibility, November 8, 2020. This twofold mission began well before the B-52 crews took off that morning; there have been countless teleconferences and planning meetings to coordinate the combined training…
