Neighbors helping neighbors build communities that are most resilient in times of crisis. A neighborhood benefits from the strength of its residents’ unity: their collective resolve to look out for and help one another, as well as their shared commitment to protecting their homes and each other.
At U.S. Southern Command, we work hard every single day to be a responsible partner and trusted neighbor throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. We support peace, promote respect for democracy and human rights, and counter threats — all in close cooperation with our committed partners in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.
The neighborhood we share with our regional partners represents about 15% of the planet’s surface and 13% of the world’s population. The ties we have with our valued neighbors in the region are long-standing, visible, and continually growing. For example, last year, the Hispanic population in the United States reached a record high of 60.6 million or about 18% of the U.S. population — a great heritage linking the U.S. and Latin America. Business between the U.S. and Latin America is very active, with billions of dollars in direct investment between the two great partners annually. With our inseparable bonds, SOUTHCOM’s enduring partnership with the region contributes to strengthening those ties in meaningful and lasting ways.
In recent weeks, the world saw Latin America and the Caribbean surpass the U.S. and Canada in registered deaths from COVID-19, with more than 330,000 lives tragically lost. Concerned for our neighbors, SOUTHCOM in March immediately began supporting the region’s response to the pandemic as part of a larger U.S. government effort to support our friends and neighbors.
To date, SOUTHCOM has funded assistance to 28 nations, with 343 projects totaling more than $18 million since the COVID-19 crisis began. Even more assistance has been provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development, and more is on the way.
Phase one of SOUTHCOM’s assistance supported an immediate response to the pandemic with more than 80 projects donating locally produced and procured personal protective equipment to first responders, medical care providers, and medical transport personnel caring for and aiding COVID-19 patients.
As our neighbors began shifting their pandemic response to more long-term prevention and mitigation efforts, SOUTHCOM transitioned to the second phase of our assistance, funding the donation of 24 field hospitals to 11 nations, with the first three arriving in Costa Rica on Aug. 18. These mobile hospitals will help communities that are experiencing a higher volume of confirmed COVID-19 cases, care for infected patients while people continue their efforts to prevent new infections, and reduce the presence of the virus.
Other examples of our rapid support to our neighbors in the region include:
- On June 30, a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft transported a large donation of 44,180 pounds of humanitarian aid supplies to Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, delivering much-needed supplies to people across Honduras to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
- To date, the U.S. has helped our neighbors in the Dominican Republic secure more than $1,000,000 in personal protection equipment, ventilators, raw materials for masks, and field hospitals.
- In Guatemala, the U.S. donated more than $1.9 million worth of personal protection equipment, medical supplies, and the procurement of two field hospitals (to be shipped in the coming weeks) to help the Guatemalan government combat COVID-19.
- And just last week, a U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo aircraft delivered a 70-patient field hospital to Kingston, Jamaica, that SOUTHCOM donated for COVID-19 patients, increasing the government of Jamaica’s capacity by 20%.
These assistance projects are strong examples of how neighbors help neighbors in times of need; together, we can overcome the effects of this pandemic in our region. We value our neighbors not only for their commitment to our shared security and prosperity, but also for the tenets on which our democracies coexist. We value our shared determination to put the health and well-being of our people and communities first — always.
We are honored to have been a partner in, and for, this region for the many decades that preceded this current crisis, and we are proud of our enduring promise to be the best neighbor and partner we can be — now and long after this crisis has abated. In this relationship, between real friends who are also neighbors, there is one truth that can be counted on to endure: We are committed to upholding the security and prosperity of our shared neighborhood, against all threats, as we labor together to make our region safer, stronger, and more prosperous.
Lt. Gen. Mike Plehn is U.S. Southern Command’s military deputy commander,
