In Latin America the United States funds physical security and stockpile management programs in Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, and the Caribbean region to improve the security and management of munitions stockpiles, disrupt the diversion and illicit trafficking of small arms and light weapons, and reduce the risk of catastrophic unplanned explosions at munition storage sites.  These programs strengthen civilian security, make it more difficult for drug traffickers, criminal gangs, and terrorists to obtain weapons from poorly secured stockpiles, and bolster the integrity of the U.S. southern border.  The United States also provides humanitarian demining assistance to Colombia, which remains the country most heavily affected by landmines in the Americas.  Explosive hazards continue to threaten the livelihood of Colombians, making it difficult for families to safely return to their homes and disrupting the restoration of local economies.  Since 2016, demining operations have expanded into previously inaccessible locations, thanks to the Government of Colombia’s peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Since 1993, the U.S. conventional weapons destruction program has invested more than $291 million in Latin America and the Caribbean, and over $30 million in fiscal year 2022 alone, to strengthen civilian safety by disrupting the diversion and illicit trafficking of small arms and light weapons, destroying excess and obsolete munitions, clearing contaminated land to enable economic development, and providing explosive ordnance risk education to prevent civilian injuries.

Through U.S. support, our implementing partners accomplished the following in fiscal year 2022:

• 235,874 square meters (58 acres) of land was cleared and released for safe and productive use
• 76 landmines were destroyed
• 138 explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices were destroyed
• 91 man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS), anti-tank guided missiles, and components were destroyed
• 65,655 individuals received explosive ordnance risk education
• 769 metric tons of unserviceable ammunition were destroyed
• 6,087 excess or obsolete small arms and light weapons were destroyed
• 347 personnel were trained in physical security and stockpile management
• 42 weapons storage facilities were built or refurbished

The United States is the world’s leading financial supporter of conventional weapons destruction, providing more than $4.6 billion in assistance to more than 120 countries and areas since 1993.  For more information on U.S. humanitarian demining and conventional weapons destruction programs, see the latest edition of our annual report, To Walk the Earth in Safety.

For further information, please contact the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Office of Congressional and Public Affairs at PM-CPA@state.gov, and follow the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs on Twitter @StateDeptPM.

Original source can be found here.