The US, Colombia To Carry Out Military Drill in the Caribbean

TR_123456 · Sep 15, 2020

Colombian combat aircraft, 2020. | Photo: Twitter/ @FuerzaAereaCol

The Colombian Air Force (FAC) and the U.S. Southern Command (Southcom) will carry out a joint military training exercise named "Poseidon" in the Coveñas municipality, in the Sucre Department, between Sept. 18 and 21.

This military exercise's alledged main objective is "strengthening procedures and standards in the detection, location, and neutralization of illicit activities" at the service of drug trafficking.

The Poseidon drill would also carry out aerial refueling and search and rescue maneuvers in open waters, under international standards of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

On August 27, Colombia's President Ivan Duque authorized the presence of the U.S. Security Force Assistance Brigades (SFAB) in his country. Previously, however, the Cundinamarca Administrative Court ordered to suspend the activities of that foreign military unit.

On January 26, Colombia and the U.S. also carried out an airborne military exercise at Fort Tolemaida with the objective of strengthening their joint fight against "transnational threats. On that occasion, 270 Colombian soldiers and 75 U.S. paratroopers participated in the drill.

That was the first time that the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States —remembered for its participation in the wars in Vietnam, the Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq— made a presence in a military exercise in Colombia.

At the beginning of June, the Southcom confirmed that the SFAB would deploy advisers in the South American country for an indefinite period of time since “the team will remain with their host units as determined by U.S. and Colombia military leadership assessment."