Although more than 74,000 service members of the Chilean Armed Forces and the Carabineros (Chile’s national police) are deployed nationwide to respond to the COVID-19 crisis, said Chile’s Defense Minister Alberto Espina Otero at a mid-April press conference, security forces continue to fight transnational crime. Since government measures to prevent [ … ]
Recent News
Latin American Military Fight Coronavirus with Inventions
Latin American armed forces are using their training and ingenuity to help create, build, and adapt structures and vehicles to confront the pandemic. The following are examples of the work of some countries, based on public information from their respective armed forces. [caption id="attachment_37566" align="alignleft" width="346"] Troops of the Peruvian [ … ]
Colombian Navy Seizes 43 Metric Tons of Drugs in the Caribbean in 5 Months
The Colombian Navy seized 43 metric tons of drugs in the Caribbean from January to late May, during surveillance operations targeting speedboats and container ships ready to set sail. This marks a milestone for the Caribbean Naval Force, which has increased its operational results by 113 percent compared to 2019, [ … ]
Campaign Orion V Deals Hard Blow to Narcotrafficking
The international naval campaign Orion V to combat narcotrafficking, carried out in the Pacific, the Atlantic, and the Caribbean, as well as in Colombian rivers, enabled the seizure of 50.3 metric tons of cocaine and 7.3 metric tons of marijuana, Colombian President Iván Duque announced on May 29. Duque, together [ … ]
US to Donate 2 Field Hospitals for Chile to Battle COVID-19 Pandemic
The United States announced a forthcoming donation to Chile, which includes two field hospitals in July to support the capacity for patients hospitalized due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Through U.S. Southern Command’s (SOUTHCOM) Humanitarian Assistance Program (HAP), an additional investment of $750,000, will be made and forwarded to institutions such [ … ]
Health Professionals of the Brazilian Armed Forces Train to Fight Coronavirus
By the end of July, military and civilian health professionals will be trained to fight the coronavirus pandemic in Brazil. The Ministry of Defense’s initiative started in May, with service member-only classes. The first mixed classes with civilians started in June. Training of professionals is held in military health units, [ … ]
US Coast Guard Cutter Vigilant Interdicts Approximately 3,000 kilograms of Cocaine near Costa Rica
The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Vigilant (WMEC-617) crew seized a total of 122 bales of cocaine, June 22, in back-to-back interdictions of go-fast vessels just off the coast of Limon, Costa Rica. The forward-deployed Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew aboard the Vigilant successfully disabled the first go-fast vessel and [ … ]
Brazilian Officer Receives UN Award
Brazilian Navy (MB, in Portuguese) Commander Carla Monteiro de Castro Araújo received the United Nations (U.N.) Military Gender Advocate Award, for her work as a gender protection advisor, at the headquarters of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA). The officer shared the award [ … ]
Brazilian Armed Forces Develop Technology to Help Fight Novel Coronavirus Pandemic
The Brazilian Navy (MB, in Portuguese), in partnership with the University of São Paulo (USP), is developing a ventilator that may save the lives of people infected with COVID-19. A group of engineers belonging to the Nuclear Power Plant Development Project of the first Brazilian submarine with nuclear propulsion designed [ … ]
Peruvian Navy Determined to End Illegal Mining
In the early morning hours of June 11, on the Madres de Dios River of the department of the same name in the Peruvian Amazon, the Peruvian Navy’s Captaincy of Puerto Maldonado, with the support of the National Police and the Office of the Attorney General, dealt a significant blow [ … ]
Colombian Army Deals Blow to Illegal Mining
In mid-May, in a joint operation with the Colombian Navy, Air Force, and the National Police, the Colombian Army dealt a hard blow to illegal mining in the Chocó department. The operation led to the destruction of three engines, three backhoes, and two mining production units that helped finance the [ … ]
US Boosts Salvadoran Response Capacity in the Fight against COVID-19
The United States is leading humanitarian assistance efforts for the Salvadoran people, by providing biosecurity equipment for health professionals, supplies for families affected, and medical equipment to save lives. “We are proud to have delivered more than 80,000 care products, meals, sheets, clothes, masks, gloves, gallons of hand sanitizer, and [ … ]