U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) continues to support the rescue efforts of the government of Honduras from the flooding caused by Hurricane Eta. Units of Joint Task Force Bravo (JTF-Bravo) have been deployed to the most affected areas of Honduras since November 5. Two days later, a JTF-Bravo team landed in Guatemala.
Joint Task Force-Bravo continues conducting life-saving efforts in Central America in the wake of Hurricane Eta and has now deployed military members to assist the people of Guatemala.
The United States Government will provide $120,000 in emergency humanitarian assistance and additional support to individuals currently living in temporary shelters due to the devastating effects of Tropical Depression Eta. This assistance will be provided to individuals living in the nine departments worst affected by this disaster (El Quiché, Petén, Izabal, Zacapa, Chiquimula, Alta Verapaz, Jutiapa, El Progreso, and Santa Rosa).
The United States Government is providing immediate aerial assistance to the government of Guatemala to support communities and individuals impacted by Tropical Depression Eta. This assistance is in the form of two U.S. helicopters as well as pilot support and technical assistance for five Policia Nacional (PNC) helicopters, all of which will be able to reach communities in El Quiché, Petén, Izabal, Zacapa, Chiquimula, Alta Verapaz, Jutiapa, El Progreso, and Santa Rosa.
In only two weeks, the Argentine Gendarmerie and Naval Prefecture seized more than 1,500 kilograms of drugs and dismantled different narcotrafficking gangs.
The Office of Security Cooperation at the U.S. Embassy in Honduras, through U.S. Southern Command’s (SOUTHCOM) Humanitarian Assistance Program made an important donation of medical equipment and office furniture to strengthen the health care system in Choluteca.
On July 27, the U.S. government delivered two state-of-the-art medical isolation units for patient transfer to the Peruvian National Police. The modern units are especially important to save lives amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
On July 7, the U.S. government donated medical equipment and disinfectant supplies, as well as logistics assistance to the Dominican Republic, aimed at mitigating the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).
In a joint patrol effort, Costa Rican and U.S. authorities seized more than 1 metric ton of cocaine in two vessels in the Caribbean Sea on May 23. The seizures took place near the Cahuita and Manzanillo communities, in Limón province.
Amid the coronavirus crisis, the Peruvian Armed Forces, together with the National Police, destroyed six cocaine laboratories in the Amazon region of Loreto, near the border with Colombia. The interventions, carried out in mid-May as part of operation Jupiter III against narcotrafficking, enabled authorities to seize supplies for drug production, in addition to 80 hectares of coca leaves and about 10 cubic meters of processed coca leaves.
The Colombian Navy’s Pacific Naval Force reported the destruction of three cocaine hydrochloride labs, each capable of producing 2 metric tons per month, in an offensive against the narco-guerrilla group National Liberation Army (ELN, in Spanish). The operations took place in Chocó department, May 11-22.
About 5,000 elements of the Ecosystem and Environmental Management Support Command (C-9) of the Honduran Armed Forces deployed in different parts of Honduras to fight forest fires that have been devastating the country since early 2020. From January to mid-May, 835 forest fires damaged nearly 55,000 hectares, the Honduran National Institute of Forest Conservation and Development (ICF, in Spanish) reported.
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