El Salvador - Navy Adm. Kurt Tidd, the commander of U.S. Southern Command, visited Guatemala and El Salvador this week to meet with U.S. embassy officials and defense leaders in each nation to discuss security cooperation.
The trip to Guatemala and El Salvador was part of an ongoing effort by Tidd to visit key partner nations in the region to reinforce the U.S. military’s commitment to regional security cooperation.
In Guatemala, U.S. Ambassador Todd D. Robinson hosted Tidd and Minister of National Defense Gen. Williams Mansilla, and Chief of the Joint Staff Brig. Gen. Juan Manuel Pérez to discuss security cooperation with Guatemala.
In El Salvador, Tidd met with U.S. embassy officials and Salvadoran security leaders to discuss the U.S.-Salvadoran partnership in support of regional security and stability. Tidd also visited the Cooperative Security Location, co-located at the Comalapa International Airport, where U.S. and partner nation aircraft fly monitoring and detection missions in support of multinational counter-illicit trafficking efforts in the region.
One of SOUTHCOM’s top priorities is coordinating U.S. military efforts to bolster regional security through sustained engagement with partner nations in order to deter adversaries, preserve stability, support allies and partners, and cooperate with others to address common security challenges.
U.S. military cooperation with Guatemala:
•SOUTHCOM’s engagement includes assistance with operational planning, maritime security, information sharing, human rights, communications, logistics, and peacekeeping.
•U.S. and Guatemala partner with international forces to support Operation Martillo, aimed at disrupting maritime illicit trafficking activities along Central America’s coastal waters.
•Starting next month, Guatemala will host a U.S. Southern Command humanitarian and civic assistance exercise. The Beyond the Horizons exercise - held from March to June 2016 - includes U.S. military medical and engineering troops working with Guatemalan personnel to provide services to communities while receiving valuable deployment training.
U.S. military cooperation with El Salvador:
•U.S. Southern Command provides key assistance to El Salvador to help counter transnational organized crime negatively impacting citizen security, including humanitarian assistance.
•U.S. and El Salvador also partner to support Operation Martillo.
•The U.S. military partners with El Salvador to operate the Cooperative Security Location where U.S. and partner nation detection and monitoring aircraft fly missions to detect, monitor and track aircraft or vessels engaged in illicit trafficking.