http://www.dialogo-americas.com Diálogo is a professional military magazine published quarterly by the Commander of the United States Southern Command as an international forum for military personnel in Latin America. en_GB US State Department official William Brownfield said on a visit to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, that the United States efforts to halt the cocaine trade from Latin America has caused a rise in trafficking to Europe, as traffickers seek new routes for their wares. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/around_the_world/2012/02/22/feature-ex-2907 Suriname and Guyana reaffirmed their cooperation with the signing of a joint declaration, after bilateral talks between President Desi Bouterse and his counterpart Donald Ramotar of Guyana. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/regional_news/2012/02/22/feature-ex-2910 The Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Mr. Denzil L. Douglas, gave one of the most passionate presentations during the 2012 Caribbean Nations Security Conference (CANSEC), hosted and sponsored by that Caribbean nation with co-sponsorship of the United States Southern Command, in December 2011. Diálogo had the opportunity to talk to Prime Minister Douglas right after his opening remarks about some of the topics referenced in his speech, such as regional security, information sharing, and disaster relief. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/regional_news/2012/02/22/feature-ex-2911 Helped by billions of dollars in U.S. aid during the last decade, Colombia’s armed forces have used better intelligence and mobility to batter guerrilla armies, pushing their fighters into ever more remote hideouts. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/special_reports/2012/02/22/feature-ex-2908 Recognizing that countering transnational criminal organizations requires diverse and innovative solutions, representatives from the U.S. Department of Defense, security officers from every service of the U.S. Armed Forces, as well as academics and science and technology leaders from the United States, Central America, South America and the Caribbean gathered at US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), in Miami, to foster collaboration against a common threat. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/technology/2012/02/22/feature-ex-2909 The security and defense ministers of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras met in San Salvador on February 17 to analyze the security strategy that they will promote in the three countries, an official source announced. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/around_the_world/2012/02/21/feature-ex-2902 In a speech opening the Second National Defense Seminar in Brazil, Defense Minister Celso Amorim identified a process of deconcentration of world power and the creation of “a belt of good will between Brazil and its neighbors in South America.” http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/regional_news/2012/02/21/feature-ex-2903 On February 16, the United States announced that it has sent forensic experts to collaborate with the investigation of the prison fire in Honduras that killed 355 prisoners, at the request of that country’s authorities. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/regional_news/2012/02/21/feature-ex-2904 At the opening of a preparatory meeting in advance of the meeting of defense, interior, and justice ministers of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) that will be held in Cartagena in May of this year, Colombian Minister of National Defense Juan Carlos Pinzón called for work on making joint decisions in order to confront transnational crime. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/regional_news/2012/02/21/feature-ex-2906 The commander of the Bolivian Armed Forces, General Tito Gandarillas, has announced that his country’s Air Force is interested in gathering information about the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) used by the Brazilian Armed Forces in their fight against organized crime in that nation. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/technology/2012/02/21/feature-ex-2905 Los Zetas will be the target of an all-out offensive by the military, Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina announced within hours of his Jan. 14 inauguration. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/regional_news/2012/02/20/aa-guatemala-army-fights-zetas The Honduran government plans to form an elite police force to fight against organized crime and to investigate serious offenses ranging from narco-trafficking to corruption and murder. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/regional_news/2012/02/20/aa-honduras-police Colombia’s National Navy will activate Anti-Drug Task Force Poseidon, based in Tumaco on a naval platform and under the operational command of the Pacific Naval Force, which will have the mission of neutralizing the strategic objectives of the FARC and terrorist support networks linked to narcotics trafficking. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/regional_news/2012/02/17/feature-ex-2898 On February 15, the keel was laid for the patrol vessel Miramar, at a ceremony presided over by the general director for materials of the Brazilian Navy, Admiral Arthur Pires Ramos, at the Estaleiro Ilha S.A. (EISA) shipyard in Rio de Janeiro. This is the third patrol vessel in a series of five vessels from this shipyard under contract with the Naval Engineering Directorate. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/regional_news/2012/02/17/feature-ex-2899 On February 14, Guatemalan President Otto Pérez inaugurated the “Secure Municipality” program, which coordinates police and Military actions with the aim of reducing the violence that is plaguing the country, the local press reported. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/regional_news/2012/02/17/feature-ex-2901 Brazil and Peru will amplify their technological cooperation in the aerospace and naval sectors. The countries’ Defense Ministers, Celso Amorim from Brazil, and Juan Alberto Otárola from Peru, met on February 14 in Brasilia to discuss the issue. The meeting concluded with the signature of two memoranda to establish a partnership between companies from both countries for the development of industrial programs. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/technology/2012/02/17/feature-ex-2900 The arrest of Florindo Eleuterio Flores Hala, the last remaining original leader of Peru’s Shining Path terrorist group who was still at large, delivered a major blow to the outlawed party just as it was trying to recast itself within the legal political system. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/regional_news/2012/02/16/aa-peru-artemio High-ranking officials of the United States Air Force and Chiefs, Commanders and representatives of Latin American Air Forces opened IAAFA’s new Airfield Training Complex on February 9 at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/regional_news/2012/02/16/feature-ex-2894 On February 14, the Mexican Security Secretariat announced the arrest of a producer and distributor of synthetic drugs with ties to the Sinaloa cartel and who is a fugitive from U.S. justice. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/regional_news/2012/02/16/feature-ex-2896 Early on the morning of February 14, in a joint and coordinated operation involving the National Army, the Colombian Air Force, and the National Police, a ton of cocaine was seized as it was being transported in a go-fast boat in the general area of Puerto Estrella, in La Guajira. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/regional_news/2012/02/16/feature-ex-2897 Peru is interested in buying ten Super Tucano light attack planes to patrol its Amazonian borders, the Brazilian defense minister said on February 14, opening a new market for the Brazilian manufacturer Embraer in Latin America. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/technology/2012/02/16/feature-ex-2895 An operation to disrupt the trafficking of drugs from South America to Europe via Africa has resulted in the seizure of more than 500 kilos of drugs and the recovery of cash totaling US$ 3.31 million in 25 airports across Western and Central Africa and Brazil. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/regional_news/2012/02/15/feature-ex-2890 Peruvian police said on February 13 they were preparing to question the Shining Path leader known as “Comrade Artemio” after soldiers captured him in a remote jungle cabin suffering from a serious gunshot wound. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/regional_news/2012/02/15/feature-ex-2891 Maria das Graças Foster, a 58-year-old chemical engineer, became president of state-owned oil giant Petrobras on February 13 and promised continuity in the management of the company, which is planning investments worth almost 225 billion dollars between now and 2015. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/regional_news/2012/02/15/feature-ex-2892 Legislative delegations from 60 nations of Latin America and the European Union will meet in Mexico next week to draw up recommendations on combating organized crime in advance of the presidential summit to be held in Chile in June, one of the organizers announced on February 13. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/regional_news/2012/02/15/feature-ex-2893 On February 9, a group of 73 undocumented Central American immigrants, including 18 minors, was rescued from three buildings where they were being held in Mexico, near the border with the United States, the Mexican Secretariat of Defense announced. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/regional_news/2012/02/14/feature-ex-2885 The arrest on February 12 of “Comrade Artemio,” leader of one of the two remnant factions of the Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path in Peru, puts an end to more than 20 years of escapes and underground life by the last member of the guerrilla group’s historical leadership committee to remain free. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/regional_news/2012/02/14/feature-ex-2886 On February 10, Colombia and Venezuela agreed to conduct coordinated operations against drug trafficking, as part of binational security programs that include confronting kidnapping, extortion, and illegal armed groups. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/regional_news/2012/02/14/feature-ex-2887 More than six tons of explosives and weapons were found by the Colombian Army in a jungle area of the department of Caquetá, at an abandoned Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) camp, official sources announced on February 12. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/regional_news/2012/02/14/feature-ex-2888 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers visited the department of Jinotega, Nicaragua to build a maternity wing for the Victoria Motta Hospital, which was originally built in 1945. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/regional_news/2012/02/14/feature-ex-2889