U.S. Consul General Margaret Hawthorne hosted the visit of Commander U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) Admiral Kurt W. Tidd, June 15-16, 2016. This is Admiral Tidd’s first visit to the Dutch Caribbean since becoming Commander of USSOUTHCOM.
Admiral Tidd is Commander of USSOUTHCOM based in Miami, Florida. USSOUTHCOM is responsible for all United States Department of Defense security cooperation in the 45 nations and territories of Central and South America and the Caribbean Sea, an area of 16 million square miles.
Consul General Hawthorne said “this high-level visit demonstrates the importance that the U.S. attaches to our bilateral cooperation with the Dutch Caribbean islands and reinforces the mutually-beneficial partnerships we have on a number of important issues.”
Admiral Tidd met with Governor Lucille George-Wout to express appreciation on behalf of the United States for hosting the U.S. Forward Operating Location (USFOL) – and Curacao’s generous partnership and significant contributions in countering the flow of illegal narcotics throughout the region.
The mission of the USFOL on both Curacao and Aruba is defined in a bilateral agreement between the U.S. and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and all operations carried out at the USFOLs are limited to activities that detect and monitor illicit trafficking. In 2015, the USFOL brought more than US $31 million to the local economy through contracts for lodging, fuel, and other contractual support.
