From January 15 to 23, 2023, the Group of Inter-American Humanitarian Demining Monitors in Colombia (GMI-CO), a mission of the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB) in support of the Comprehensive Action Program against Antipersonnel Mines of the Organization of American States (AICMA-OAS), carries out training for new Monitors, who are already presented from their countries with specialization in mine and explosive device removal, regarding the specifications of the humanitarian work that they will carry out in Colombia.
In this context, on January 17, Captain (Brazilian Marine) Leonel Mariano da Silva Júnior, GMI-CO Chief, offered the Brazilian Army Captain Luã Mascarenhas de Carvalho and the Lieutenant Captain (Marine) from Brazil) Leandro Gomes Ferreira, a presentation focusing on the strategic and operational vision, history, perspectives and lessons learned from the IADB's support for humanitarian demining in Latin America, and the situation of said activity in Colombia. This conference also served to equalize the knowledge of the different members of the Group, preparing for operations in 2024.
Since 1993, the IADB has coordinated the sending of military personnel from its member states to support humanitarian demining in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru and Suriname. In Colombia, since 2006 the GMI-CO continues to support the efforts of the OAS and the country's authorities to reduce the effects of explosive devices and antipersonnel mines, which have penalized the population of this country for six decades. Currently, the Group is made up of officers from the Brazilian Navy, the Brazilian Army and the Mexican Army.
