From October 14 to 16, the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies joined US Secretary of the Navy Carlos del Toro at the 16th Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas (CDMA) in Mendoza, Argentina, hosted by Minister of Defense Dr. Luis Alfonso Petri. The Perry Center was honored to reconnect with its foundational mission at this year’s CDMA, serving as an observer alongside the Inter-American Defense College (IADC) and the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB). Together, we aim to create platforms that promote mutual trust and collaboration among the military and security institutions of democratic nations in the Western Hemisphere. The conference provided a valuable opportunity to reconnect with heads of delegations, including Perry Center graduates.

Perry Center Director Dr. Paul J. Angelo moderated the CDMA working committee panel on “Climate and Environmental Challenges from a Defense Perspective” and held bilateral discussions with representatives from Argentina, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, and the Security and Defense Network of Latin America (RESDAL). Perry Center Associate Director of Outreach and Communication Dr. Holly Peirce and Representative to USSOUTHCOM COL (ret.) Patrick Mathes also supported the engagements. Mr. Walter Astudillo Chavez, a Perry Center alumnus and Minister of State of the Office of Defense of the Republic of Peru, confirmed Peru’s role as the host for the 2026 CDMA, and the United States will host the conference in 2028. The formation of the Perry Center was the institutional response to the challenges of civil-military coordination expressed at the second CDMA in Bariloche, Argentina, in 1996.