Guatemala is strengthening its fight against narcotics because at least 60% of drugs that travel from Colombia to the United States pass through the Central American country.”]Guatemala City – The government is taking its fight against narco-trafficking to the sky.
The C4i (Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence) system will have the ability to take aerial shots, which will assist law enforcement officials to identify areas that are hotbeds for drug activity. But it also will assist meteorologists because the system will help them foresee weather patterns, including potential natural disasters.
C4i, which could be operational within two years if its US$166 million in funding is approved by Congress, features 6 Super Tucano airplanes made in Brazil, three radar systems and computer software and hardware to monitor the country’s biosphere.
“[We have been planning] the project for over two years now, and it came out of the concerns of the National Security Council,” said Col. Rony Urízar, an army spokesman. “The objective is to gather all state and private information that could be useful to alert us about any biospheric event and be better prepared.”
Guatemala is strengthening its fight against narcotics because at least 60% of drugs that travel from Colombia to the United States pass through the Central American country. The drug trade has sparked a sharp increase in violence nationwide, as Mexican cartels have moved into Guatemala, using the country as a hub in the narcotics trade, officials said.
All components must work in synergy for C4i to be successful, said Arnoldo Villagrán, technical secretary for the National Security Council, the institution that coordinates and plans the country’s security strategies.
[captionpix imgsrc=”https://thecostaricanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/guate1.jpg” align=”right” captiontext=”‘Guatemala could become a leading country in terms of technology to fight organized crime and to control and combat the effects of weather and forest fires and monitor road conditions,’ said Carlos Menocal”]“The airplanes comprise only a fifth of the project because they are just to intercept airplanes that enter the airspace illegally or suspiciously,” Villagrán said. “They are greatly needed because one of the country’s greatest vulnerabilities is not having control over the airspace.”
The system also can communicate with similar networks installed in Mexico and Colombia, Villagrán said.
“Guatemala could become a leading country in terms of technology to fight organized crime and to control and combat the effects of weather and forest fires [and] monitor road conditions,” said Carlos Menocal, Guatemala’s minister of the interior. “Our problem now is that other countries share satellite photos with us when things have already happened and then it’s too late.”
The National Security Council would oversee C4i’s operation but would be assisted by more than 100 other organizations, including the Land Registry, the Disaster Reduction National Coordinator, the municipal traffic police, fire stations and universities.
“It would be a tool for all of Guatemala,” Menocal said.
Col. Urízar said the airplanes, software and hardware would be bought from Brazil and the radar from Spain at a cost of US$166 million that would be financed through Brazilian and Spanish banks.
The negotiations to obtain the credit with the Brazilian Bank began in 2008, when President Álvaro Colom visited the country’s Super Tucano airplane assembly plant.
Antonio Ordóñez — Infosurhoy.com[captionpix imgsrc=”https://thecostaricanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/guate2.jpg” align=”left” captiontext=
Antonio Ordóñez — Infosurhoy.com
