The United States Southern Command (also called SOUTHCOM) is responsible for all United States military activities in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean basin. Its headquarters is in Miami, Florida, but it also has operations in Fort Buchanan, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Fort Bravo in Soto Cano, Honduras. In addition, it has Forward Operating Locations (FOLs) in Comalapa, El Salvador, Manta, Ecuador, and the islands of Aruba and Curaçao (Netherlands Antilles).

SOUTHCOM is a joint command comprised of Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps components.

For many years, SOUTHCOM was located in Panama, at a Army installation located at the Pacific opening of the Panama Canal, which served as the base for the largest number of U.S. military and civilian personnel in Latin America. In 1999, it was moved to Miami.

In the war against drugs, SOUTHCOM provides logistical support to other US agencies, such as the Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of Justice, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, To interdict the flow of drugs from these areas, SOUTHCOM conducts surveillance of the air and maritime routes to the United States and other countries. For this reason, it receives approximately one percent of the total Federal counterdrug budget ($17.8 billion for FY2000).

SOUTHCOM forms part of the Unified Command System that was created in 1947.

External links

• United States Southern Command website
• Southern Command (entry at globalsecurity.org)