For its tenth edition, the International Session for Latin America (SIAL) is officially becoming the International Session for Latin America and the Caribbean (SIALC). This name change reflects a natural evolution of the programme: it recognises that Latin America and the Caribbean constitute a closely linked strategic region, facing common challenges in the areas of security, organised crime, regional cooperation and development.
This development also reflects France’s commitment to the region. Together with Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy, France is fully integrated into regional dynamics. It protects nearly 1.1 million citizens there, has an exclusive economic zone of 1.2 million km², two permanent armed forces, around 3,000 military personnel, 1,500 police officers and gendarmes, around twenty naval vessels and around ten aircraft. This is France’s largest military presence outside European territory.
This base serves several key purposes: combating illegal gold panning (Operation Harpie) and trafficking, protecting the Guiana Space Centre, conducting maritime and aerial surveillance, providing relief to the population during natural disasters, and developing security cooperation with regional partners.
This cooperation is based, in particular, on operational partnerships with Brazil, Suriname and Guyana, as well as regional organisations such as CARICOM or the Regional Security System, as well as with the United States within the framework of the Joint Interagency Task Force South.
A new identity for a region facing shared strategic challenges
The choice of the theme «Integrated action against trafficking and strengthening regional security» comes against a particularly worrying security backdrop.
Latin America, with a population of nearly 660 million, and the Caribbean, with a population of around 45 million, are now home to the vast majority of global cocaine production. According to the UNODC’s World Drug Report 2024, Colombia accounts for nearly 70 % of global production, ahead of Peru and Bolivia, forming the «Andean triangle». Added to this threat is the rise in other forms of trafficking linked to cannabis, synthetic drugs and methamphetamine.
Criminal organisations exploit the main shipping routes linking South America to North America, the Caribbean, Europe and West Africa. The French West Indies and the Guiana Shield therefore occupy a strategic geographical position along these routes.
In addition to drug trafficking, these networks also fuel arms trafficking, human trafficking, money laundering and corruption, thereby causing long-term damage to the institutions and stability of states in the region.
A week-long training course to develop a collective response
Gathered in Martinique from 29 June to 3 July, 90 civilian and military officials, experts and decision-makers from numerous countries in Latin America, the Caribbean and France shared their experiences with a view to developing joint responses to transnational threats.
Featuring a mix of lectures, round-table discussions, field visits and committee work, the session provided an opportunity to address the entire chain of measures to combat illicit trafficking.
Discussions centred on the evolution of criminal networks, new investigative techniques, criminal intelligence, the protection of sources and witnesses, illicit financial flows, corruption, international judicial cooperation, border surveillance technologies, the security of maritime and airspace, defence cooperation, and prevention policies targeting young people.
The committee’s work was the highlight of the session. The auditors put forward a number of concrete recommendations aimed at strengthening regional cooperation in relation to several priorities:
- regional coordination of security capabilities
- the pooling of training resources and the enhancement of interoperability
- the integrated security of land, sea and air corridors
- border control
- the fight against hybrid criminal organisations
- judicial and financial cooperation to combat illicit flows
The proposals include, in particular, the establishment of joint investigation teams, the strengthening of port and airport security, the creation of a network of stakeholders in the Antilles-Guyana region, and the development of a regional security academy arising from the ALCORCA programme.
At the end of this week’s proceedings, SIALC reaffirmed its role as a platform for strategic dialogue, promoting the sharing of expertise and the creation of sustainable networks between civilian and military stakeholders in the region.
A session that forms part of the G7’s political process
The conclusion of the SIALC marked the transition from the theoretical part of the training to the practical aspects of French policy, with the Regional Security Conference (CRS) organised as part of the French G7 Presidency.
On this occasion, the IHEDN and the DCSD welcomed Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs; Jean-Didier Berger, Minister of State attached to the Minister for the Interior; and Naïma Moutchou, Minister for Overseas Territories.
The ministers attended the presentation of the findings of the SIALC auditors, which enabled the recommendations drawn up throughout the week to be put directly to policy-makers. This link between operational expertise and policy-making illustrates the commitment to turning technical discussions into concrete action at regional level.
Held on 2 and 3 July in Fort-de-France, the Regional Security Conference brought together 27 states and international organisations with a view to strengthening cooperation in the face of rising organised crime, particularly drug trafficking and firearms trafficking.
This mobilisation led to the adoption of the Martinique Appeal, endorsed by 26 delegations, which sets out three priorities: strengthening regional capabilities, deepening security cooperation and protecting strategic infrastructure.
By playing a central role in this diplomatic process, SIALC reaffirms its ambition: to contribute to the development of a regional security community based on trust, the sharing of expertise and cooperation, with a view to providing collective responses to threats that extend far beyond national borders
