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War On Terror: The head of U.S. Southern Command has warned lawmakers that IS is radicalizing converts and other Muslims in Latin America and could train and send them north via human traffickers. Gen. John Kelly issued his warning in a hearing Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee on defense appropriations for fiscal 2016. He's concerned that in addition to the Iranian terrorist puppet Hezbollah being active in Latin America, the Islamic State is promoting and recruiting for jihad against the United States in the region. "Last year, IS adherents posted discussions on social media calling for the infiltration...

The potential spread of Ebola into Central and Southern America is a real possibility, the commander of U.S. Southern Command told an audience at the National Defense University here yesterday. “By the end of the year, there’s supposed to be 1.4 million people infected with Ebola and 62 percent of them dying, according to the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention],” Marine Corps Gen. John F. Kelly said. “That’s horrific. And there is no way we can keep Ebola [contained] in West Africa.” If it comes to the Western Hemisphere, many countries have little ability to deal with an outbreak...

Iran and Middle East-based extremist groups are stepping up their activities in South America, aiming to make friends and score cash, a senior U.S. military official says. Tehran intends to build military drones in Washington's backyard for the Venezuelan military led by Hugo Chavez, U.S. Southern Command chief Gen. Douglas Fraser told reporters Wednesday during a breakfast meeting in Washington "I would put it in the Scan Eagle class of UAV," Fraser said. "It's not up into the Predator class." The Southern Command chief was referring to two U.S.-made drone aircraft used by the American military. The Scan Eagle is...

The US military's senior officer responsible for security co-operation in Latin America has warned of the destabilising potential posed to the region by the Venezuelan government's controversial, and opaque, arms procurement programme. Hugo Chávez, the president of the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, has begun signing contracts to buy an array of weapons to revamp his defences to thwart what he claims could be outside "aggression". Such fears were intensified two weeks ago when Venezuelan officials were alarmed by the presence of US warships and marines near Curaçao, off Venezuela. US officials said it was a routine manoeuvre. Equipment ranging from...

China's Latin influence is growing, general says China is taking advantage of a U.S. influence vacuum in Latin America because of aid cuts, the commander of the Southern Command says. By PABLO BACHELET pbachelet@herald.com WASHINGTON - The head of the Miami-based U.S. Southern Command Wednesday warned that China was increasing its influence among Latin American militaries, and partly blamed a policy that cuts military aid to countries that refuse to exempt U.S. citizens from International Criminal Court jurisdiction. In his first testimony before a House panel, Army Gen. Bantz Craddock, who heads the United States Southern Command, offered an unusually...

VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA, Panama (NNS) -- Naval forces from eight countries begin PANAMAX 2004 in August, a maritime exercise in which the multinational forces plan and coordinate a coalition response to a security threat against the Panama Canal. PANAMAX is conducted under the direction of Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern command and involves personnel, aircraft and ships from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Panama, Peru, and the United States and observers from Ecuador. The participants organized into Task Force 138 will conduct the week-long exercise, which includes operations on the high seas, coast and land. “The great interest...

Exercise New Horizons 2004 kicked off here March 27 during a ceremony attended by Guatemalan President Oscar Berger, U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala John Hamilton and other Guatemalan and U.S. dignitaries. New Horizons 2004 is a joint and combined exercise – in other words, one involving more than one U.S. service and forces from at least one other nation -- sponsored by the U.S. Southern Command, working with the Guatemalan government. It's designed to perform humanitarian and civic assistance projects and to exercise related construction and medical readiness operations, officials said. The U.S. service members deployed here as part of Joint...

More than 200 Marines from Camp Lejeune, N.C., have landed at Port-au-Prince airport and are setting up to provide security in the Haitian capital, Defense Department officials said today. U.S. Southern Command officials said U.S. Coast Guard cutters also are near the island nation. The Marines began arriving after nightfall Feb. 29. President Bush had ordered them earlier in the day to deploy following the resignation of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. More Marines will flow into the island, said DoD officials. The 8th Marines are providing the bulk of the U.S. forces, local officials said. The U.N. Security Council unanimously...

A team of 50 Marines has departed the United States to beef up security for the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, U.S. Southern Command confirmed today. The Marines are part of the Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team out of Naval Base Norfolk, Va. The team is under the operational control of U.S. Southern Command based in Miami. The team will assist the Marine security detachment at the embassy. In addition, a Southern Command assessment team continues its work in Haiti, Pentagon officials said. U.S. Ambassador to Haiti James B. Foley requested the assessment team last week. Rebel groups opposed to Haitian...

Official U.S. Navy file photo of multinational forces operating in the U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command (USNAVSO) area of responsibility. USNAVSO is the naval component to the U.S. Southern Command, and provides operational command and control to naval forces in the region and is the lead agent for cooperation and training initiatives between the U.S. and navies from Central, South America and the Caribbean. View Larger Download HiRes   U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command Relocates to FloridaStory Number: NNS040126-01Release Date: 1/26/2004 6:56:00 AMSpecial release from the U.S. Department of Defense WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Navy has decided to relocate...

ABOARD USS SAMUEL B. ROBERTS, At Sea (NNS) -- USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58), working with Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) 403, recently detained eight suspected drug traffickers and recovered more than 7,000 lbs. of cocaine from an ablaze vessel while at the mid-point of a record-setting counter-drug deployment. Roberts was ordered to intercept and question a suspicious vessel that was being tracked by the ship’s embarked helicopter, Magnum 450, from Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron, Light (HSL) 44 Det. 7. But initial attempts to establish communications received no response. Finally, the suspected vessel sent a message stating there was...

WASHINGTON — Dozens of cargo ships chartered by the U.S. military to carry supplies and equipment to American forces worldwide are vulnerable to terrorist attacks while visiting ports in the Caribbean Sea, South America, Europe and Africa, a congressional watchdog agency has concluded. The General Accounting Office said officials in the U.S. Southern Command and the U.S. European Command generally do not require the chartered ships to submit detailed port security plans. Warships and cargo ships owned by the military must submit such plans. The GAO also reported that at least some chartered ships transiting the Mediterranean Sea and...

THE military yesterday beefed up security in all water sources in Basilan after confirming intelligence reports that the Abu Sayyaf had planned to poison the island’s water supply. The Southern Command, however, could not explain how would they poison the Basilan water sources. In another development, joint military training exercises for the Balikatan have been stalled for two weeks due to the delayed submission of training modules. Maj. Cynthia Terramae, US spokesman for Balikatan explained that the proposed training modules have "yet to be signed by proper authorities" in Washington and Manila. Terramae, however, said Balikatan participants still "on...