On May 11, Captain Leonel Mariano da Silva Júnior, of the Brazilian Navy, Head of the Group of Inter-American Monitors of Humanitarian Demining in Colombia (GMI-CO), a group that represents the contribution of the Inter-American Defense Board for the quality management of activities for the removal of antipersonnel mines and other explosive devices in Colombian territory, traveled to the northwest coast of the country, accompanied by a team from the Brazilian press, to visit training facilities of the Marines of the Colombian Navy, as well as an area where humanitarian demining operations are currently being carried out.
The first part of the visit took place at the Training and Training Center for Peace Operations (CEPAZ), in the municipality of Coveñas, department of Sucre. Currently, this Center is in charge of training deminers, leaders and supervisors of this activity in the Colombian Navy. The delegation interacted with soldiers from the Brazilian Navy who act there as instructors and who, on the occasion, detailed their tasks and demonstrated the procedures taught for carrying out the Manual Demining Technique, used to clean the affected areas.
In the second part of the visit, the delegation traveled to the municipality of El Carmen de Bolívar, Department of Bolívar. In this region he visited one of the work fronts of the Colombian Navy, with a cleaning operation in progress, meeting with local residents, representatives of the National Department of Rural Property and the local Mayor's Office, who highlighted the importance of this humanitarian activity for community. It should be noted that the Government of Colombia is executing a project to formalize land titles, after the end of conflicts in the region, and that, to do so, properties must be free of the threat of explosive devices.
In the period between 2003 and 2023, Colombia has already cleared 17,041,761 m² and destroyed 22,912 antipersonnel mines, 1,049 used unexploded ordnance and 1,476 improvised explosive devices. Considering the number of explosive devices located and destroyed, it is estimated that more than 25,000 lives were saved.
Since its creation in 2006, the GMI-CO has supported the efforts of Colombian authorities to reduce the effects of devices, which have penalized the country's population for more than five decades, as part of the Comprehensive Action Program against Mines Antipersonnel of the Organization of American States. Currently, the Group is made up of Officers from the Brazilian Navy, Brazilian Army and Mexican Army. In parallel, the Colombian Navy's humanitarian demining program has been supported by officers and non-commissioned officers of the Brazilian Navy since 2015, currently operating under the auspices of a bilateral agreement between the Ministries of Defense of both countries. .
