Central American and Caribbean air chiefs met in Tucson, Arizona, in August 2024 to discuss ways to better integrate and support each other to combat illegal trafficking, climate change and other regional matters. DIÁLOGO AMERICAS ILLUSTRATION
R. EVAN ELLIS/U.S. ARMY WAR COLLEGE
From August 26-29, 2024, I had the honor of participating as the moderator of the Central America and Caribbean Air Chiefs Conference, hosted by the leadership of U.S. Air Forces Southern (12th Air Force) in Tucson, Arizona. The event was an opportunity for the heads of the air forces of the region to discuss shared challenges, from organized crime and migration to climate issues, as well as their efforts, innovations and cooperation to address them.
Challenges
The assembled senior Air Force leaders discussed new patterns of transnational organized crime affecting the region, including expanded flows of cocaine to Europe and the associated involvement of European criminal groups such as Italy-based ’Ndrangheta; and increasing the importance of cooperation across the region with governments from other regions to address them. The leaders also examined evolving challenges from other forms of transnational crime, including illicit gold mining affecting countries such as Colombia, Guyana and Suriname; new types of money laundering using cryptocurrencies and China-based institutions, and the impact of arms on violence in the region, particularly in Mexico and the Caribbean. The group further discussed migrant flows from not only Venezuela, but also Cuba, Ecuador, Haiti and African nations, affecting governments from Colombia through Panama, Central America and Mexico, as well as those in the Caribbean.
In addition to discussing transnational crime and migration challenges, the air chiefs discussed the impact of climate-related on their countries and the missions of their security forces. The conversation touched on recent hurricanes and tropical storms, including Beryl, the earliest hurricane on record to reach Category 5, as well as the effects of flooding and drought, such as the one causing severe difficulties in Guatemala, as well as drought-fueled wildfires affecting Colombia and Belize.
The group also took note of crises in Venezuela and Haiti, and their current and potentially expanded regionwide effect in the future, as well as the impact of other actors such as Iran, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Russia on the shared strategic environment.
Responses
The transnational and often transregional nature of the challenges identified by the participants emphasized the need for both making the greatest use of the capabilities of each nation and for strengthening bilateral and multilateral cooperation to address those challenges.
The air forces represented at the conference have been working with the United States and other partners to procure equipment that will increase mission capacity and capability, as well as interoperability between the nations. Examples of significant materiel obtained through the U.S. include two Bell 412 helicopters for Guatemala in December 2022, a Cessna 208 aircraft for Belize made operational in May 2023, delivery of a C-208 to El Salvador in November 2023, and delivery of a Cessna Caravan to the Dominican Republic in February 2024. Additionally, Panama took control over eight Huey UH-1H helicopters — received through support from the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) in June 2024 — in addition to a Beechcraft King Air 250 that it received in 2022.
Some new aviation capabilities discussed at the event were obtained without help from the United States. These include Eurocopter H-425 helicopters acquired by Honduras, and two Hindustan Dornier 228 transport aircraft acquired by Guyana from India in April 2024. At the organizational level, the group gained insights from the experience of the new Air Wing recently established by Antigua and Barbuda.
The regional air force leaders discussed programs through which the United States could help its partners, from services integrating commercial satellite imagery and supporting analysis to training and other support through both the 12th Air Force and other U.S. Department of Defense organizations. The conference further discussed promising work in cybersecurity, including work of the Jamaica Air Wing in building its capabilities in that domain, as well as lessons that could help other partners.
Participants also discussed strengthening capabilities that went beyond materiel. These included addressing recruitment and retention challenges, more fully leveraging the capabilities of the enlisted/noncommissioned officer portion of their forces and similarly leveraging the contributions and perspectives of women in the force.
The event discussed a range of vehicles for strengthening integration and collaboration, both bilaterally and multilaterally. These included training programs such as the U.S.-Colombian Action Program, organizations for working together and sharing data such as the Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-S), as well as bilateral cooperation, such as Jamaica’s October 2023 agreement for air intercept with the Dominican Republic. The event further touched upon the value of embedded representatives in partner military organizations.
Discussions further recognized the value of democratic extra-hemispheric friends such as the British, Dutch, French, and other European Union representatives, contributing to partner capabilities through collaboration such as training and information exchange, particularly in helping to address expanded trans-Atlantic drug flows.
Participants discussed the value of regionwide organizations of the Inter-American System for strengthening integration and creating opportunities for sharing information and identifying partners with needed capabilities and expertise, including the Conference of Central American Armed Forces (CFAC), and the System of Cooperation Among the American Air Forces (SICOFAA) and its annual meeting, the Conference of American Air Chiefs (CONJEFAMER). With respect to SICOFAA, participants noted the importance of Costa Rica’s recent joining of the organization. They noted its value in serving as a bridge between the nations of the Caribbean, and those in Central and South America.
Conclusion
The 12th Air Force Central America and Caribbean Air Chiefs Conference reinforced the urgency of cooperation on the increasingly consequential challenges that span regions. Given the different political perspectives of the countries represented by the air chiefs, it was not surprising that the event did not seek or produce consensus on those problems, but it did notably strengthen the basis for working together for anticipating and managing them, as they continue to unfold.
Evan Ellis is Latin America research professor with the U.S. Army War College. The opinions expressed here are his own, and do not necessarily represent those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Air Forces Southern/12th Air Force, or those attending the Central America and Caribbean Air Chiefs Conference.
This article was originally published in Diálogo Americas, which is a publication of U.S. Southern Command.