With the objective of promoting the interoperability of the Air Forces of different countries within the Caribbean Sea, using the La Aurora Central Command, in Guatemala City, as the main base, Operation Zeus was carried out, in which different aspects were trained. air security, such as interdiction and control of transnational crimes such as drug trafficking, human trafficking and environmental crimes.
The training included the simulation of air interdiction and surveillance and control of maritime sectors and ships that navigate in the jurisdiction of the participating countries, for which command and control elements located on the ground, close aerial monitoring platforms, and intelligence aircraft were used. , reconnaissance and transportation, with the participation of professionals from the Air Forces of 7 countries.
The first Zeus exercise was carried out in 2019, with an important result of the reduction of up to 95% of illicit flights, thereby consolidating an international area control capacity, where information exchange, logistical support and training are carried out. In 2024, Costa Rica, Mexico, Honduras, Belize, Guatemala, Panama and Colombia participated in the exercise, and on previous occasions the United States, Dominican Republic and Jamaica were also involved.
In an official statement it was reported that the exercise “has allowed the articulation of efforts, wills and capabilities of the participating countries, maximizing combined and interagency operations, in order to achieve effective control of airspace and support for maritime interdiction, actions that have achieved the reduction of illicit flights. in Central American countries; leading in this way to affect the illicit economies that are generators of violence in the region”.
Among the authorities who were present at this event were: Brigadier General José Enrique Ruiz Morales, Commander of the Guatemalan Air Force, Brigadier General Juan Jaime Martínez Ossa Commander of Operations of the Colombian Air Force, Brigadier General Guillermo Agusto Rosales Rubio, General Commander of the Honduran Air Force and Colonel Anthony Velásquez, Second Defense Commander of Belize.
For General Juan Jaime Martínez Ossa, Commander of Air and Space Operations of the Colombian Air Force, this exercise “represents a lot for Colombia, there is a scourge that affects the entire world and especially the hemisphere, it is like with cooperative security, “We seek to integrate doctrinal capabilities and above all fight against this scourge, so important for our country, because illicit economies are what maintain the fuel for the war against the Colombian people, their well-being and democracy.”
Brigadier General José Enrique Ruiz Morales Commander of the Guatemalan Air Force stated “We have managed to standardize and strengthen these procedures, these coordinations with the different air forces of the region mainly and thanking the collaboration and support of the Colombian Air Force”.
Finally, Second Aviation Captain Luis Estuardo González Barrios, Guatemalan Air Force Helicopter Pilot, stated in an interview that regarding his experience: “for me, participating in these operations represents an infinite number of opportunities in the sense that knowledge is exchanged with experts in stores from countries like Colombia. “that come to strengthen our aeronautical procedures and in this case my participation was in the search and rescue procedures that allow the lives of the crews to be safeguarded.”
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