A high-stakes multinational special operations military competition is set to bring elite troops from 21 countries across the Americas to Paraguay next month, marking the third time the South American nation has hosted the U.S.-led Fuerzas Comando exercise. Scheduled to run from August 24 to 28, the 2026 iteration of the event is organized by the United States Southern Command, continuing a long-running program designed to foster regional military collaboration.
Paraguay’s top defense leadership has highlighted the unique value of this year’s gathering. Defense Minister Óscar Rodríguez emphasized that the competition will assemble some of the most highly trained military personnel from across the Western Hemisphere, with experts drawn from a diverse range of specialized military disciplines to test their skills and share expertise. General César Moreno, commander of Paraguay’s armed forces, noted that the immersive, collaborative competition is designed to deepen mutual trust and strengthen operational cooperation between participating nations across the region.
At its core, the 2026 exercise centers on the cross-border exchange of specialized knowledge, tactical techniques and operational strategies tailored to modern special operations. Beyond the competitive elements, the event prioritizes reinforcing collective regional responses to transnational security threats that impact all participating nations, including transnational organized crime, terrorist activity, and large-scale internal crises. The full list of confirmed participants includes Argentina, the Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic, and the United States.
Paraguay secured the right to host the 2026 edition during the closing ceremony of Fuerzas Comando 2025, which was held in El Salvador earlier this year. This is not the first time Paraguay has welcomed the competition: the country previously served as host in both 2006 and 2017, giving it extensive experience organizing the large-scale multinational event.
The Fuerzas Comando 2026 exercise comes on the heels of another major regional military drill, Panamax 2026, which took place earlier this month in Panama. That exercise drew roughly 1,700 military personnel from nearly 20 countries across the region. In addition, Paraguay and the United States formalized their military cooperation framework last December with the signing of a bilateral Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which clarifies the legal status of U.S. military personnel operating in Paraguayan territory ahead of the 2026 competition.