Washington and Bogotá strengthen military alliance through joint training exercises in Colombia

More than 300 U.S. troops will travel to Colombia to conduct an exchange of military tactics, techniques and procedures with the country's military. This activity is part of the bilateral security alliance established between the Trump administration and the government of Abelardo de la Espriella, which aims to combat criminal organizations and drug trafficking.

These training exercises will take place at the Tolemaida Military Fort and at the Cavalry School facilities, both located near Bogotá. They will begin on Oct. 30 and end on Nov. 11, as confirmed by the Colombian Ministry of Defense in a press release.

"U.S. military personnel will begin arriving in Colombia on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, at the Tolemaida Military Fort, located in Nilo, Cundinamarca, which will serve as the main venue for the multinational collective training exercise Vanguardia del Sur 2026 (VS26), which will run through Nov. 11," Colombian authorities reported.

"The exercise will begin on Oct. 30 with an aeromedical evacuation from Tolemaida Military Fort to the Cavalry School facilities in Bogotá," they added.

This initiative is another step toward strengthening security relations between Colombia and the United States. In mid-August, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced that de la Espriella authorized the Trump administration to conduct military operations on Colombian soil.

The announcement evokes the days of Plan Colombia, when the government of former President Álvaro Uribe benefited from U.S. military support to significantly weaken the guerrilla groups that had been sowing terror in the country for decades.