TUCSON, Ariz. — Air chiefs and senior military leaders from across South America gathered in Tucson, Arizona, Aug. 25 for the South American Air Chiefs Conference (SOUTHAM) 2026, a four-day conference focused on strengthening regional cooperation and developing coordinated approaches to shared security challenges across the Western Hemisphere.
Hosted by 12th Air Force, Air Forces Southern (AFSOUTH), the air component to U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), the conference creates a forum for senior leaders to discuss challenges that extend beyond national borders while identifying practical opportunities to improve communication, interoperability and cooperation among regional air forces.
“The challenges we face today do not respect national borders,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. David Mineau, AFSOUTH commander. “Transnational criminal organizations exploit our geography to traffic illicit goods and undermine regional stability. Cyber threats target our critical national infrastructure and communications networks, requiring us to move forward together.”
He also emphasized, “No single nation can meet these challenges alone. We must approach them with a unified posture, leveraging our collective capabilities.”
During the conference, leaders will discuss secure communications and information sharing, air domain awareness and early warning, counter-narcotics operations, illicit air corridors, transnational criminal organizations, emerging technologies, cyber vulnerabilities and aircraft capabilities.
SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan reinforced the importance of those discussions during his remarks to the air chiefs, emphasizing that cooperation among nations does not require sacrificing national sovereignty or autonomy.
“The ability for us to come together and bring unique capabilities, respecting each other’s sovereignty, and finding ways that we can work together; that’s really the strength of this conference,” Donovan said.
He pointed to the relationships among senior leaders as an operational advantage, particularly as threats and challenges increasingly cross national borders.
“Close, continuous relationships among senior leaders build the trust needed for rapid information sharing, seamless integration, interoperability and decisive collective action,” Donovan said. “In a time of borderless threats, the relationships forged here are strategic assets for all of us.”
SOUTHAM brings together delegations from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, along with U.S. military leaders and State Partnership Program representatives.
For Gen. Hugo Rodríguez González, commander in chief of the Chilean air force, the gathering also provides an opportunity for partner nations to contribute their own experiences and priorities to the broader regional conversation.
“As air forces of the region, the most important thing we have to do is determine how we integrate and collaborate to achieve common objectives,” Rodríguez said.
He said regional air forces need common doctrine, a common language and shared procedures to work together effectively, particularly when responding to threats such as narcotrafficking.
“If we are going to form a coalition, for example, to fight narcotrafficking, we have to think the same way [and] have similar doctrine,” Rodríguez said.
Rodríguez also contributed Chile’s perspective during a briefing on its space program and opportunities for regional cooperation in research, sustainable development and security. The discussion highlighted the expanding role of the space domain and opportunities for regional air forces to share expertise and strengthen cooperation beyond traditional air operations.
He said the focus now is on translating the conference discussions into action by developing shared doctrine and procedures and improving how regional partners alert and share information with one another.
The conference will pair those discussions with practical engagements designed to advance regional partnerships. Air chiefs will engage with industry representatives to examine emerging technologies and potential capability solutions and visit the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base to discuss aircraft sustainment and regeneration.
State Partnership Program representatives will participate throughout the conference, reinforcing relationships between South American air forces, their state partners and AFSOUTH. Leaders will also conduct bilateral meetings to address individual partnership priorities and identify opportunities for future cooperation.
Senior enlisted leaders are also participating throughout SOUTHAM, reflecting their role in turning senior-leader priorities into operational capability.
“Your presence here is not secondary. It is vital,” Mineau told the enlisted leaders. “We recognize that a professionalized, empowered enlisted force is the backbone of any modern air force and the true catalyst for our operational success.”
Mineau told participants that the trust developed through engagements like SOUTHAM becomes particularly important when nations are called upon to operate together.
“Let us use this week to challenge assumptions, exchange best practices and deepen our bilateral and multilateral ties,” Mineau said. “The trust we build in these conference rooms is the very trust we rely on when we are executing real-world missions side-by-side.”
SOUTHAM 2026 continues through Aug. 28 with senior-leader discussions, bilateral engagements and sessions focused on strengthening the relationships and capabilities needed to address shared challenges throughout the Western Hemisphere.