Bogotá. More than 600 Colombian military and police officers have been trained in the Training Center for Peace Operations (Cencopaz) over the last 2 years to participate in the Task Force Colombia, created by the Ministry of National Defense, to participate in peacekeeping international missions.
This Center, in the Marine Infantry Training Base in Coveñas (in the department of Sucre), provides military and civilians belonging to UN observation missions, nine academic programs established by the international organization, with practical reinforcement exercises, which certify their knowledge and skills to fulfill the mandate of neutrality of the United Nations.
Colonel of Marine Infantry, José Domingo Cantillo, director of Cencopaz, reported that 649 men and women of the Armed Forces have been trained, as well as 105 civilians who work in the UN, in courses such as the Military Observer, Soldier Basic of the UN, Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration, War Correspondent and Gender Perspective.
In the same way, he revealed that the Center was built on the Marine Infantry training base, since it has geographical scenarios of jungle, desert and coast, with land, air and maritime access.
Finally, the director of Cencopaz, Colonel José Domingo Cantillo, said that the functions of training, conduction of studies, evaluation of personnel and advice to the Ministry of Defense, are responsibilities assumed after the agreement signed by Colombia and the United Nations on January 26, 2015 in New York, and that was subsequently regulated through law 1794 of July 11, 2016, relating to peacekeeping operations.
Source: Ministry of National Defense.
