The new commander of the Colombian Military Forces, Admiral Francisco Hernando Cubides Granados, spoke exclusively with Diálogo about the challenges, objectives, and opportunities arising from his new position at the head of the Colombian Army, Navy, and Air Force. The high-ranking officer emphasized that among his priorities is to strengthen the image and increase the visibility of the Military Forces, as well as to maintain the offensive and curb the expansion of criminal organizations that profit from drug trafficking, illegal mining, and extortion.
He also stressed the importance of working together with the three forces and other institutions of the country to expand capabilities in defense of democracy and national security.
Diálogo: What are your main objectives as the new commander of the Military Forces, and what challenges will you have to face in order to fulfill those objectives?
Admiral Francisco Hernando Cubides Granados, commander of the Colombian Military Forces: I have been handed over the leadership of military forces that are on the offensive against illegal armed groups, and that will be my main objective: To maintain the Military Forces’ offensive, which are above all respectful of democracy, and act within the framework of the National Constitution, the laws, and the doctrine. We are facing an offensive in the north, south, east, and west of the country, with a special mission which is to counteract the criminal presence of illegal armed groups that are causing fear and trafficking. Through the Military Forces’ efforts, together with the National Police, we are going to guarantee security, but above all freedom, democracy, and the fundamental rights of every citizen. We want Colombians to return to their daily lives, for Colombians to feel safe, for them to see in their Military Forces the institution that protects them the most, that gives its all, because in the end, as a soldier, as a sailor, or as an aviator, we have sworn our lives for Colombians.
The second objective is to work for the Military Forces themselves. We have to work for the welfare of those 220,000 men and women who are operating on land, sea, river, and air domains and who must be focused on the mission every day. But for that to work, for a soldier to be focused on their mission, their well-being is paramount. Not only their good sleep, their good food, their recreational state, their resting state, but also their mental health and training. This has led me to talk to the Military Forces’ commanders and request greater closeness with our soldiers, so that to the extent that we understand their problems and can help them solve them, he or she will be able to go into combat in better condition. This would undoubtedly be my second objective, to work for the welfare of the troops.
And the third, very important, is integrity. We must continue working on the concept of principles and values so that the soldier, the sailor, the aviator, has a framework in which he or she acts in all his or her behavior on duty and off duty, in honesty, loyalty, discipline, commitment, and transparency. These are themes that might sound obvious but that are permanently present in every speech so that these men and women always act in a transparent manner, in a way that is respectful of human rights and in the application of international humanitarian law.
As for the challenges, I believe that one of them is the security of information. We must work to avoid that those fake news that come out from illegal groups, for example the ELN [National Liberation Army] that is talking about armed strikes and wants to undermine the credibility of the Military Forces, do not prosper. Our challenge is how to make the truth visible and, above all, materialized in the work of the men and women who are part of the Colombian Military Forces.
Diálogo: Among the armed groups that have spread most throughout the national territory are the Tren de Aragua and the Clan del Golfo. What measures do you plan to apply to confront the escalation of terrorism and the expansion of these criminal groups?
Adm. Cubides: The expansion is in two dimensions. First, in the territory. We have found that there is an increase in the criminal presence of these groups in different areas of the country, but above all in people. These two groups have dedicated themselves to recruiting young people to serve as informants and to communicate when the police are present in rural or urban areas of the municipalities or when the Navy, for example, deploys a boat, or when a device goes out. This modality has increased a lot. So, what are we going to do? The first thing is that as we counteract drug trafficking there will be fewer resources to pay these informants, who today are paid between $70 and up to $350.
But more than that, it is also about working with the government to look for better options for legality. We believe it is also a matter of values. It is important that families work on how they take care of their children, that parents know what their children are doing, that social control measures, and the measures of the judges are much more effective so that these young people who have been arrested can pay their sentences and not reoffend. It’s a complex mechanism to get people to become good, but for that to work there must be options for legality.
Diálogo: The success of the fight against drugs depends not only on the efforts of one nation but also on a set of operations between countries that make it possible to weaken drug trafficking along the borders. An example of this is the success of Operation Orion, which you highlighted on several occasions. Could you elaborate on what this operation consists of and if you have considered taking this strategy to other areas to combat other crimes?
Adm. Cubides: Orion is an operation that was born in 2018. It is the sum of efforts of countries in the region including Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, who decided to join efforts for 45 days, every six months, to achieve a much more consolidated affiliation with the sum of capabilities of each country against drug trafficking. Orion has had very important results and today has managed to add more countries in the region, but also countries and organizations outside the continent. Today Orion is close to its 14th edition. In the 13th edition, we had around 60 countries and more than 105 different organizations that worked together not only against drug trafficking, because in Orion 12 we increased the scope to irregular migration, illegal fishing, arms trafficking, smuggling, in such a way that other countries became interested. For example, we found interest from Singapore, from the Philippines, from Indonesia, so that today as observers they look at the Orion model, to see how they can join this effort which, although led from Colombia, has a reach to Pacific latitudes. It is worth mentioning that recently the Korean Coast Guard also joined us, with whom we have an official exchange of information through a memorandum of understanding. In the last operation we even had the Australian Federal Police, because we found semisubmersibles that were sailing to Australia with a large amount of cocaine with Australian charts. So we realized that the business is reaching there.
Today Orion is an operation that gives Colombia a lot of visibility and places the Colombian Navy as the world’s leading institution in the fight against drug trafficking. We have seized close to 2,000 tons of cocaine adding up each Orion, and that is no to say that the rest of the year we do not fight against drug trafficking.
Similar to Orion, there is another operation being led by the Air Force. It is Operation Zeus, where the Air Force is always watching from above. Through this operation, the Air Force supports maritime intervention. We are also working with the support of the Army, because the Army also contributes to the seizure of Orion. What these efforts add up to is that, at the end of the day, it’s Colombia, led by the Navy, which has a very well-recognized Operation Orion at the world level.
Diálogo: Among the illicit activities that have increased the most in the country is illegal mining, which has led to an increase in the presence and illicit enrichment not only of local illegal groups, but also of international ones. The most recent example is the capture of El Turco, a member of Hezbollah who exported illicit coal to Lebanon, among other countries. What strategy are you going to implement to reduce illegal mining and therefore the presence of international criminal groups in the country?
Adm. Cubides: Considering how the Military Forces and the Police have affected drug trafficking, many people who used to scrape coca are now dedicated to mining, mining as a way to make a profit because a gram of gold today costs around $65, so these two factors have caused many people to dedicate themselves to mining and unconsciously it is seriously affecting the environment. Today we have areas totally devastated by illegal mining, we have pools full of mercury affecting rivers where it used to be possible to fish and today that is no longer possible. So, the challenge is how this illegal mining becomes legal, it is an issue that we are working on with the government, with the Ministry of Mines, so that the farmer is aware that, although he has to look for a livelihood, he also has to compensate the environment. But for this to be possible, we return to the same subject of the social problem, of how the State, the government, is going to find solutions to illegality with legal options.
In addition, we have been making an important effort with neighboring countries, like Panama, for example, carrying out operations and adding intelligence capabilities that have allowed us to detect those who own the business, and we have been breaking up these criminal groups.
Diálogo: We’ve already talked about drug trafficking and illegal mining; what other crimes are among the the Military Forces’ priorities?
Adm. Cubides: Today we are talking about extortion. Extortion is a crime that involves asking people for money to avoid affecting them. Although it is a crime that has always existed, it has been on the rise in recent years in Colombia because we have taken economic power away from illegal armed groups. This has led these illegal groups to look for other ways to finance themselves and they are doing so through extortion.
To combat this crime there are specialized units both in the Police and in the Military Forces called Gaula [Unified Task Force], there are police Gaula and military Gaula. These Gaulas are present in the different departments of the country and their mission is to receive complaints from the people so that, together with an investigative process that is carried out with the Attorney General’s Office and the Technical Investigation Corps (CTI), we can get to those individuals who are causing the extortion.
And another important issue is the extortion that is being carried out from prisons, where 41 percent of extortion comes from. We have been working with the Ministry of Justice and the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute (INPEC) to increasingly restrict the availability of mobile systems and equipment in those prisons where many extortions are being carried out. So, once again, it is a great challenge that requires joining the efforts of both the Military Forces and, in this case, the Ministry of Justice, the Police, and the Attorney General’s Office.
Diálogo: Among the great allies of the Colombian Military Forces is U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), an important partner in matters of security and humanitarian assistance. How has this cooperation with SOUTHCOM benefited Colombia?
Adm. Cubides: The relationship with the United States has historically been very good, there have always been many cooperation mirrors in different dimensions. An example is the presence of U.S. agencies in Colombia to support and give great support in social, economic, and promotional issues, as well as in works in different areas of the country. But SOUTHCOM has been very key in military matters. We have an exchange of experts in academic spaces, here in Colombia as well as in the United States, we also have an exchange of intelligence control for specific issues, we are permanently operating with our ships. In the case of the Navy, we have operations that we are carrying out within the framework of UNITAS, Solidarex, and PANAMAX. Also, with the Air Force we have the presence of military instructors here in Colombia for Special Forces issues, and we also send people to the United States to attend different training and education scenarios. In general, we are talking about a very solid relationship that has allowed us to increase capabilities and above all confidence, allowing us to improve not only our capabilities, but above all to interoperate in maritime, air, and land areas.
And beyond military issues, there has also been humanitarian assistance. For example, we have had solidarity operations in which the United States has provided a great deal of support in simulating scenarios of natural disasters such as tsunamis and earthquakes, among others. Likewise, for a long time now, we have received support directly from SOUTHCOM through the visits of hospital ships. We have had the visit of the hospital ship USNS Comfort and recently the Burlington ship was here, which has allowed us to bring great medical aid from the United States to attend some very deprived communities that are very affected health-wise, and we have had important support there. Since 2007 we’ve had many visits by units from the United States, and that’s key, because the communities need that support and, together with help from the Navy, the Army, and the Air Force, they complement each other so that these communities in the Caribbean or the Pacific can really be attended to and, to some extent, reinforce those needs in terms of physical and mental health.
Diálogo: And how do you see this relationship in the future?
Adm. Cubides: Very optimistic. The truth is that we’ve always had a very close relationship, and we have permanent support in this case from SOUTHCOM. For example, we are currently attending here in Colombia a seminar on the importance of information operations, a very current issue and we have brought together eight countries of the region. It is a space that allows us not only to consolidate theory and practice on these issues, but also to achieve a much closer hemispheric approach with countries such as Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Honduras.
