Diálogo spoke with Peruvian Army Brigadier General Marco Antonio Marín Saldaña, U.S. Army South deputy commanding general for Interoperability, who assumed the role of deputy commander of Multinational Force South during exercise PANAMAX 24. Brig. Gen. Marín highlighted the importance of multinational training to face the challenges of the 21st century, among other topics.
Diálogo: In this edition of PANAMAX, Peru led the Multinational Force South together with the United States. What was the contribution of the Peruvian Armed Forces to this year’s exercise?
Peruvian Army Brigadier General Marco Antonio Marín Saldaña, deputy commander of Multinational Force South for PANAMAX 24: The first thing I would like to mention is that, on this occasion, Peru practically had the magnificent opportunity to lead Multinational Force South. We consider it very important not only for Peru, but for all the countries, to achieve this interaction that allows us to keep up our training pace, to be able to provide support when some situation requires it, and to work together shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand, among all of us.
Diálogo: In May 2023, you assumed, the role of deputy commanding general for Interoperability for U.S. Army South. What is the importance of this position for Peru and what are your priorities?
Brig. Gen. Marín: The most important aspect of this achievement for Peru is to position ourselves as one of the leading countries in the region, based on the experience we have gained over many years in the fight against terrorism and in different multinational exercises. This is a very important achievement, which allows us to contribute with our experience and knowledge and to integrate with all the countries in the region. It is also important for us as a country, because it allows us to contribute to improving our doctrine and procedures among our military forces. By achieving all of this, I’m convinced that we’re going to be able to participate in a real situation, initially at the regional level and, if necessary, at the global level as well.
Diálogo: How does your experience in counterterrorism operations in Peru influence your decisions, not only in your current position with U.S. Army South, but also during exercise PANAMAX 24?
Brig. Gen. Marín: Participating in counterterrorism operations in real situations allows us to establish that, in daily or routine situations, all leaders are subject to making decisions. We can say that it is even easy to do so. The situation becomes complicated for leaders when we face crisis situations; that is what happens to us in Peru. In crisis situations, we have to be involved and take into consideration three very important variables. First, we must fulfill the mission entrusted to us. Secondly, and no less important, we must determine what collateral damage may occur and minimize it. And, thirdly, it is to appreciate the number of casualties we could have; because every life in our hands in that moment of crisis has to be important for decision making. These three variables can be appreciated in a crisis situation. Those experiences against terrorism that we’ve lived through in Peru and the experience we’ve had throughout this career allow us to put the three variables in check before making a decision.
Diálogo: How important are multinational exercises like PANAMAX, sponsored by U.S. Southern Command, for the countries of the hemisphere and for peace and security in the region?
Brig. Gen. Marín: I think this type of training is extremely important. The importance lies in the fact that we come from different cultures, we speak different languages, some speak English, some speak Spanish, some speak French, some speak dialects. That mixture, that mix of cultures and languages, combined with the short time available for the staff to integrate, makes it quite complicated to achieve interaction in management, to achieve mutual cooperation among all, and to converge toward the same decision and the same recommendation. At the beginning, this made things extremely complicated, but as the days went by, things became more flexible, due to the abilities and skills of each of the officers who were assigned.
After more than half the duration of the exercise, we saw that all those differences were diminishing. We were already able to arrive at jobs that were much more flexible, more practical. This capacity allowed us to face crisis situations more quickly. It allows us to say that, as a final outcome of exercise PANAMAX, it is extremely important for all the countries in the region to conduct them in the way they were tested.
So, I would like to conclude by saying that exercise PANAMAX ends up being quite important for all of us, when we converge in a single objective. In addition, I would also like to add that this exercise allows us to crystallize the initial ideas that President [Franklin D.] Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States, had when, in those moments after 1945, before the creation of the United Nations, he had a vision and said: “It is very difficult to fight separately, it is very complicated; but it is also difficult to fight united.” We managed to lessen that difficulty with training and therein lies the importance of exercise PANAMAX.
