The countries are large, infrastructures are underdeveloped, and the terrain is difficult, he said. Brazil, 3.3 million square miles in size, for example, is larger than the continental United States. Frequently the borders are not marked and few people live in vast remote areas. In addition to drug trafficking, illegal mining and illegal logging plague remote areas outside the capitals and a few major regional cities. In many ways, Sheridan said, the area is like America's Wild West in the days of sheriffs and posses vs. outlaws and cattle thieves.
Loggers go for miles into Bolivia chopping down huge swaths of timber.
It's illegally harvested and pulled out through Brazil. Helping nations control their territory is where DoD comes in, Sheridan said. We help them get control of their air space by providing radar support from ground-based radar and from airborne systems. We help them get control of their land mass by providing mobility assets, principally helicopters. The United States has provided helicopters to Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela and, most recently, Mexico.