U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) delivered a Metal Shark Defiant 85 coastal patrol vessel to the Salvadoran Navy (FNES, in Spanish) at La Unión Naval Base, on July 22, 2021. The handover was made possible thanks to the U.S. Foreign Military Financing Program, which supports Central American and Caribbean countries to [ … ]
Recent News
Cuba Gets Oxygen from Venezuelan Regime
On August 7, a Cubana de Aviación cargo jet arrived at Maiquetía International Airport, north of Caracas. In addition to the 16 crew members, flight number 3310 brought to Venezuela 280 empty oxygen cylinders for hospital use, which belonged to the Cuban Medical Mission. That same day, a Cuban Navy [ … ]
Death Toll In Massive Haiti Quake Jumps To Over 1,419
The death toll from Haiti's powerful earthquake jumped to over 1,419 on Tuesday, as crews desperately dug through collapsed buildings for survivors in the Caribbean nation still reeling from its president's assassination. In Les Cayes, as in other hard-hit cities on the southwestern peninsula, most of the population spent the [ … ]
Argentina Captures Narcotraffickers, Seizes 9 Tons of Marijuana
The Argentine Naval Prefecture (PNA, in Spanish) dismantled drug trafficking networks operating in the province of Corrientes and seized 9,088 kilograms of marijuana, in different operations carried out June 30-July 20, 2021. The Argentine National Gendarmerie (GNA, in Spanish) also seized 1,744 kg of coca leaves in three operations July [ … ]
Colombia Creates Command to Counter FARC Dissidents
Colombian Minister of Defense Diego Molano announced the creation of the Norte de Santander Specific Command, on July 24, 2021, at the Brigade 30 headquarters in Cúcuta. Consisting of 14,000 service members from the Army, the command’s objective is to dismantle Front 33, a dissident group of the Revolutionary Armed [ … ]
SENAFRONT Carries Out 2 Largest Drug Seizures in Its History
From April to June 2021, the Panamanian National Border Service (SENAFRONT, in Spanish) carried out the two largest drug seizures in its history, with almost 5,000 kilograms of drugs seized (marijuana and cocaine), Commissioner Oriel Ortega Benítez, SENAFRONT general director, told Diálogo. SENAFRONT’s Special Boat Unit (UBE, in Spanish) carried [ … ]
New directions in the deepening Chinese-Argentine engagement
The December 2019 inauguration of President Alberto Fernández and Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in Argentina returned to power a Peronist government that has not only moved the nation in an increasingly left-populist direction, but has also opened the door for a substantial deepening of the country’s already significant [ … ]
Vaccine Diplomacy in Latin America, Caribbean a PR Coup for China
The COVID-19 pandemic has created multiple opportunities for the People’s Republic of China to advance its commercial position and influence in Latin America and the Caribbean. The most significant, in the short term, has been China’s vaccine diplomacy. Over a million people in the region have died from COVID-19 since [ … ]
Peruvian Marine Corps Hosts Multinational Amphibious Planning Conference
The Peruvian Marine Corps hosted the second annual Multinational Amphibious Planners Conference at the new International Amphibious Training Center in Ancón, Lima province, on July 16. Partner nation naval infantry representatives from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, and the United States gathered at the newly established International [ … ]
Strengthening Partnerships for Disaster Readiness
U.S. military and civilian personnel from Joint Task Force Bravo (JTF-Bravo), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Honduran Armed Forces, the Honduran Permanent Contingency Committee (COPECO, in Spanish) and Honduras’ Ministry of Infrastructure and Public Services (INSEP, in Spanish), conducted a joint training to enhance disaster response readiness, [ … ]
Law Enforcement, Women, Peace, and Security, Make their Debuts at Tradewinds 2021
Nestled inside the Captain’s meeting room aboard a ship sit two women. Suddenly, three men in blue military service uniforms and armed with assault rifles burst in and begin to search the area while another armed man takes the women to the main deck for interrogation about suspicions of human [ … ]
Colombia, Ecuador Committed to the Fight against Transnational Crime
Colombia and Ecuador agreed to strengthen cooperation between their armed forces for a greater impact in the fight against transnational crime, especially on the border. So said Colombian Defense Minister Diego Molano Aponte and Ecuadorian Minister of Defense Admiral Fernando Donoso Morán during a binational meeting in Ipiales, Nariño department, [ … ]