Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon shared the advances of Colombia’s Sword of Honor plan on Monday, an operation against the FARC and other armed gangs, with the U.S.
The minister and U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta met in Uruguay where the 10th Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas was in session.
Pinzon showed the advancements with the Sword of Honor plan, an army mission to weaken leftist insurgents that was implemented by Colombian public forces the beginning of this year.
“The U.S. can cooperate and contribute to speed up the results of the plan,” said the Colombian minister.
The U.S. also offered to lend its experience for the revision of future strategies of the armed forces that are advanced by Colombia’s defense minister when they meet on November 15 to discuss security measures.
Secretary Panetta also warned the South American countries not to use the military to carry out police duties, saying that the region’s police forces should be strengthened in order to adequately deal with law enforcement, reported Reuters.
“The use of the military to perform civil law enforcement cannot be a long-term solution,” said the U.S. Defense Secretary.
The two-year war plan, a joint effort of the National Police, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Agriculture, public prosecutors and the Armed Forces, will use more than a hundred specially-trained members of the security forces.