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Security & Cooperation The Frigate Independência docked at the Rio de Janeiro Naval Base on December 26, 2020, completing one of the most important international participations in the history of the Brazilian Navy (MB, in Portuguese). The vessel, with some 200 service members, was part of the 20th and last contingent of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon Maritime Task Force (UNIFIL-MTF). UNIFIL-MTF,…
Strategic Influence In November, the Peruvian government passed a decree ordering all foreign-flagged vessels operating in Peruvian waters to use an additional satellite device starting January 1, 2021. This will enable authorities to know the routes and movements of each vessel with greater precision. On October 18, Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Luis Gallego told EFE news agency that a mostly Chinese-flagged fishing fleet…
Transnational Crime The Colombian Military Forces General Command (CGFM, in Spanish) told the press on November 25, 2020, that the Army had neutralized Marco Tulio Salcedo, alias Duver, chief financial officer of the Miller Perdomo criminal group, in Solano municipality, Caquetá department. “This individual was allegedly [...] in charge of extortions and kidnappings; illegal financing of narcotrafficking products; recruitment, especially of minors;…
Transnational Crime Daniel Ortega insists on controlling humanitarian aid in emergency situations. He recently blocked the actions of civil organizations to deliver medicine, clothing, and food aid to thousands of people affected by hurricanes Eta and Iota in Nicaragua, between November 3-16, 2020. “The Ortega regime has hidden information, has forsaken thousands of families who lost their income, has sabotaged support activities…
Transnational Crime Despite a year marred by the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) Rewards Program in Colombia continued to be successful. In 2020, the program enabled Colombia’s security forces to conduct 14 operations against the narcoterrorist organizations of the Clan del Golfo, dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC, in Spanish) and the National Liberation Army (ELN,…
Transnational Crime Members of the Paraguayan National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD, in Spanish) and the Brazilian Federal Police (PF, in Portuguese) destroyed 494.6 tons of marijuana during Operation New Alliance (Operación Nueva Alianza) XXIII, which ended on November 13, 2020. With the support of two PF helicopters, SENAD agents operated in forest areas in Amambay department for 10 days, where they destroyed narcotraffickers’…
South America U.S. Ambassador to Ecuador Michael J. Fitzpatrick and Consul General Brian S. Quigley, Jr. delivered two field hospitals, which U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) acquired for the Ecuadorean government. The official handover ceremonies were held on December 16, 2020, in Quito and Guayaquil, respectively. The donation, made on behalf of the American people, is valued at $750,000. It was part of…
Transnational Crime Between October 22 and November 4, the Brazilian Armed Forces deployed 4,400 service members to combat transborder and environmental crimes in the states of Pará and Amapá, in the northern region of Brazil, at the Suriname and French Guiana borders. The entire area, on the eastern side of the Amazon, represents 16.3 percent of the national territory. Operation Ágata North…
Transnational Crime In late October 2020, in addition to ongoing surveillance activities along Brazilian borders with 10 neighboring countries, Brazilian military and security forces turned their focus inward to internal boundaries among Brazilian states, regions that are known routes for organized crime to transport drugs, weapons, and other illegal merchandise that enter and leave the country. During the third edition of Operation…
Transnational Crime On October 24, 2020, the Brazilian Federal Police (PF, in Portuguese) seized 1,060 kilograms of Bolivian cocaine paste, in the Vale do Guaporé region, a municipality in Comodoro, Mato Grosso state. The drug was seized during an operation coordinated with the PF, the Mato Grosso Military Police, the Special Border Group (GEFRON, in Portuguese), the Air Operations Integrated Center (CIOPAER,…
Transnational Crime In mid-November, the illegitimate Nicolás Maduro regime increased service members’ salaries to cushion the impact of hyperinflation, news portals El Pitazo (Venezuela) and Infobae (Argentina) reported. According to Vice Admiral (ret.) Jesús Briceño García, former commander of the Venezuelan Navy and external advisor to the National Assembly Defense Commission, a major general would earn $17 per month, while a sergeant…
Transnational Crime On December 10, U.S. Navy Admiral Craig Faller, commander of U.S. Southern Command, a key U.S. government figure in making visible the crisis in the South American nation, was in Panama for the fourth time. During his visit to Panama, Adm. Faller, reiterated that the United States is maintaining its policy aimed at “a peaceful transition to a legitimate government”…
