I recently returned from my first visit to the region as SOUTHCOM Commander, travelling to Brazil and Colombia, and participating in a regional defense and security conference.  This trip provided me with a great opportunity to meet with South American military leaders as well as leaders from Mexico and Panama.  The trip also gave me a chance to discuss the potential we see to work together across international and interagency lines to improve security and stability throughout the Americas.

My first stop was Brasilia.  The US Ambassador, Cliff Sobel, and his team have built a rich bilateral relationship between the United States and Brazil.  It was clear from my discussion with Brazilian civilian and military leaders that there are many prospects for our two nations to strengthen the bonds of mutual security cooperation; these include continued bilateral military exercises, sustained attendance at each other’s military education and training programs, technology development, and continued cooperation to address security and defense concerns that impact both our nations.  I had the opportunity to meet the Chief of the Brazilian Defense Staff and the Service Chiefs and was impressed with the professionalism and capability of the Brazilian armed forces.  I look forward to working together to improve an already strong relationship. 

After Brazil, I flew to Colombia where I met with Ambassador Bill Brownfield and his Country Team.  Here, I learned firsthand about the Embassy’s ongoing efforts to maintain US support for our Colombian partners’ fight to defeat the FARC.  I met with the Colombian Chief of the Joint Staff and discussed ways in which Southern Command specifically can continue to partner with Colombia’s armed forces to help improve security throughout the Americas.

My trip to Colombia also provided me with a special personal opportunity: my first visit to the high school in Bogota I graduated from 38 years ago.  In the late 1960’s, my family moved to Colombia because my father was transferred there by his company.  I attended high school at Colegio Nueva Granada (CNG), and have very, very fond memories of my high school experience—I was very eager to return.  The CNG administration was very accommodating to my schedule, opening the school on a Sunday, and even sending a notice to my classmates living in Colombia about my visit.  As a result, I hugged and reminisced with 12 of my classmates—I can’t tell you how wonderful it was to see them again.  Amazingly, when we got in a classroom together, you would have thought we had never left school.  Despite no contact for many, many years, it was gratifying to see how strong the bonds are that we built during high school.  I cannot thank Adriana Perez and the entire CNG administration for making my small dream come true. 

Interestingly, I had visited Bogota briefly in 2002, with several other new US general officers, but wasn’t able to see much of the city because of security concerns.  Security is markedly better today—the result of a long and concerted effort by the Colombian people and their government to take their country back from narco-terrorist groups like the FARC and ELN, as well as illicit trafficking organizations and criminal gangs.  While these groups still pose a national and regional threat, there is no question the forces of democracy are winning in Colombia.   It reminds me of the Colombia in which I grew up.

Back on the job, while in Colombia, I had the unique privilege and honor to participate (along with the chiefs of defense from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay) in the South American Security Conference (SOUTHSEC) in Cartagena.  This conference provided an excellent opportunity, very early in my term as Commander, to share insights, concerns, and ideas with the Chiefs of Defense from South America and to listen and learn from them.  I left feeling very encouraged.  We had frank and open discussions on the complex transnational threats we face together.  I sensed a high level of professional camaraderie and a continuing desire to work together among the military and security forces in the region to address common problems. 

I learned there is a growing regional consensus that threats like illicit trafficking, terrorism and organized crime are not just individual nation’s problems but impact all our nations to varying degrees.  For example, we found we cannot focus just on “source nation” issues, “transit nation” issues, or “demand nation” issues of illicit narcotics trafficking—instead, we all must address the larger, overarching transnational and region-wide enterprise to enhance security and stability.  No single government entity, no single nation, no single international organization by itself can confront this problem and succeed.  Illicit trafficking, with its ever present nexus with narco-terrorism, is a transnational problem that requires interagency cooperation within nations and international cooperation between nations to effectively counter it.

These dangerous networks exploit natural, political, and institutional seams of authority and capability across all levels of government.  Therefore, as was reaffirmed by many during the SOUTHSEC conference, countering the challenge this transnational enterprise poses to security, stability and prosperity in the Americas requires strong and enduring partnerships across the whole of each government—indeed, across the whole of many governments—to prevail.  In this light, USSOUTHCOM is working to expand our thinking and our interagency and international cooperation.  Our challenge is both intellectual and institutional. 

I am eager to work with the armed forces of the nations of Latin America and the Caribbean bilaterally and collectively, to forge deeper bonds of friendship and cooperation.  Working together, as professional military and security forces, we can enhance the defense of our individual countries, enhance our multilateral training and exercises, and work with our intergovernmental and international organizations to significantly impact the illicit trafficking enterprise.  I am very grateful to my superb hosts in both Brazil and Colombia and I am excited to meet and build enduring relationships with all our partners in the region.