The role of the Colombian National Army in the construction of regional integration scenarios: a new security and defense paradigm.

Abstract

The Colombian National Army, due to the Internal Armed Conflict that the South American nation is experiencing, has been forced to prioritize the security of the territory and the defense of the population against an internal threat, however, with the development of the peace processes with the guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) together with the efforts to redefine the roles of the Armed Forces and establish new doctrines that adapt to the context, it is a priority to establish the role that this Army should play in the construction of regional integration scenarios, starting from its constitutional vocation to defend the land borders of the nation and taking this traditional role to new scenarios of regional integration, it is a priority to establish the role that this Army should play in the construction of regional integration scenarios, starting from its constitutional vocation of defending the nation's land frontiers and taking this traditional role to the new times, promoting bilateral cooperation scenarios in security and defense matters, mainly to face the new threats that, led by transnational organized crime gangs, threaten State organization, institutional stability and the security of the population.

Interdependence, the development of frontier capabilities, bilateral cooperation, the strengthening of scenarios such as the Binational Frontier Commissions (COMBIFRON) and the decisive mobilization of military forces to frontier zones, are the pillars that will give impetus to the construction of regional integration scenarios under the leadership of the Colombian National Army.