U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) Major Felipe A. Bayona is an exchange officer in the Brazilian Marine Corps (CFN, in Portuguese). The U.S. officer arrived in Brazil in August 2020 and is expected to remain with Brazilian service members until July 2023. A combat engineer officer, Maj. Bayona conducted operations in [ … ]
Recent News
Brazil Increases Seizures by 38 percent at Border with Bolivia and Peru
Acre, one of the Brazilian states located in the Amazon region, counts with the support of a Special Border Group (GEFRON, in Portuguese) since September 2019. Neighbor to Bolivia and Peru, the state struggles to combat drug and arms trafficking throughout its extensive border region. Acre Military Police Colonel Antônio [ … ]
Colombia Police, Military Raid Illegal Gold Mining Operation
From the air, the illegal gold mines look like wounds in the dense jungle of southern Colombia — scars of red, gray, and brown dirt surrounding toxic ponds. The sound of the police and military choppers lunging in over the hills sends most of the miners below fleeing into the [ … ]
JTF-Bravo Donates Foggers to Fight Dengue in La Paz, Honduras
U.S. Southern Command’s (SOUTHCOM) Joint Task Force Bravo (JTF-Bravo), in coordination with the Security Cooperation Office at the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa, donated 15 thermal foggers with maintenance kits to fight dengue in the department of La Paz, Honduras, April 15, 2021. The thermal foggers, ideal for insect control, were [ … ]
The Work of a Female Soldier Following the Hurricanes in Guatemala
The first contact Lesvia Leticia Gallardo Morales had with the Guatemalan Armed Forces was when she first saw soldiers patrolling near her house. The then 5-year-old turned to her mother and said, “When I grow up, I want to be a soldier.” Throughout the years, she kept reminding her mother, [ … ]
USS Wichita and Jamaican Forces Conduct Live-Fire Exercise
The U.S. Navy Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Wichita (LCS 13) and Jamaica Defence Force Coast Guard offshore patrol vessel HMJS Cornwall conducted a live-fire exercise in the Caribbean Sea, April 9. Gunners from both ships shot hundreds of rounds at a floating training target. Formally known as a naval [ … ]
Brazilian Generals Change Command at MONUSCO
The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO, in French) will soon have a new commander — another Brazilian. On April 8, 2021, Brazilian Army (EB, in Portuguese) Lieutenant General Marcos de Sá Affonso da Costa was appointed to replace EB Major General Ricardo [ … ]
Guatemala Receives 4 Ships to Intercept Narcotrafficking
The U.S. government, through the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency’s (CBP) Air and Maritime Operations and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, donated four Midnight Express Interceptor vessels to the Guatemalan Naval Special Force Command, the CBP reported on April 9, 2021. [caption [ … ]
Colombian Army Seizes Nearly 6 Tons of Coltan
The Colombian Army seized nearly 6 tons of black sand with coltan on the Guaviare River, Guainía department, at the border with Venezuela, on March 14, 2021. Service members attributed the shipment to a dissident group of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC, in Spanish), led by alias Gentil [ … ]
JTF-Bravo Continues to Support Honduran Communities Devastated by Hurricanes Eta and Iota
U.S. Southern Command’s (SOUTHCOM) Joint Task Force Bravo (JTF-Bravo) continues to support the Honduran communities that are still suffering the effects of hurricanes Eta and Iota, which struck the country in November 2020. In early April, this aid shifted to reconstruction efforts. “Speaking directly to the experience of the JTF-Bravo [ … ]
Colombia, Peru, US Conduct Anti-submarine Warfare Exercise
In Caribbean international waters, the Peruvian Navy submarine BAP Pisagua seeks to approach enemy surface vessels without being detected, ready to attack. Meanwhile, in the sky, air units patrol the area to locate the submarine and send the information to the vessels so that they can destroy it first — [ … ]
Eight Individuals Indicted for Transnational Drug Trafficking, Money Laundering, and Financial Crimes
A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Texas (EDTX) has returned an indictment charging eight individuals with various federal violations related to a complex international drug trafficking conspiracy, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei on February 26. Debbie Mercer, 58, and Kayleigh Moffett, 33, both of Oklahoma [ … ]