Podcast and more: Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas
Greetings from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, where the Ninth bi-annual Conference of Ministers of Defense of the Americas has just ended. It was four days of discussions and meetings between defense delegations from every country in the region except Cuba and Honduras, the two countries currently suspended from the Organization of American States.
The main issues discussed were
- Ways to increase transparency over defense expenditures in a region where defense budgets and arms purchases have been growing; and
- Ways to improve coordination in the responses to natural disasters.
Ministers could not agree on proposals to establish new mechanisms for either transparency or disaster response. However, the final declaration praises efforts that member countries have taken in both areas, and commits the members to study how to make both work better.
A common theme in many of the discussions was the military’s involvement in internal roles like crimefighting, counter-drugs, and development projects. Some countries, especially in the Southern Cone (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay), came out in favor of a strict division between external defense and internal security, with the military restricted to the former. Others, especially in the Andes and Central America, both left and right, favored giving the military large internal roles and duties.
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Adam Isacson from WOLA offers a few observations in a podcast.
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Here is the final document from the conference (PDF), issued this afternoon in English (crudely “scanned” with a digital camera; a true digital version isn’t yet available).
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Here is the document published by eight non-governmental and academic organizations from the region who attended the summit as observers (PDF in English and Spanish).
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Here is the text of Defense Secretary Robert Gates' speech at the conference.
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Here are a few pictures from the event, taken with Adam's point-and-shoot camera.
Defense ministers of the Americas line up for a photo
Bolivian President Evo Morales
Colombian Defense Minister Rodrigo Rivera; U.S. Southern Command Commander Gen. Douglas Fraser, Assistant Secretary of Defense Paul Stockton, Ecuadorian Defense Minister Javier Ponce, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates
Costa Rican Vice-Minister of Security Mario Zamora, Chilean Defense Minister Jaime Ravinet, Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobin
Defense Minister of Argentina Nilda Garré
Defense Minister of Brazil Nelson Jobin
Defense Minister of Colombia Rodrigo Rivera
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs Frank Mora
WOLA's George Withers and Adam Isacson at the IX CDMA in Santa Cruz, Bolivia
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