On the days of the 11th and 12th of February 2026, NCT Consultants will bring together a big and diverse group of agents of industry, security and government for the next edition of NCT South America. This year, NCT will switch the coastline of Rio de Janeiro to return to the busy mountain city of Bogota in the heartland of Colombia, once again in the Club Militar, with the collaboration of the Colombian Army.
This year’s edition is going to have a special focus on the role of criminal organizations in the fight against the consequences of CBRN weapons as well as the governance of medical planning to deal with them. These sessions will be done with a group of diverse speakers coming from military and civilian camps, coming from the armed forces from all over South America.
PRO EXPERIENCE
Concurrently with the conference, NCT will be carrying out NCT PRO eXperience also at the Club Militar in Bogota on the 11th and 12th of February. NCT PRO eXperience is the hands-on training pillar of NCT Events. Over the course of two days, civil and military first responders take part in practical training focused on CBRNe, C-IED, EOD, and demining scenarios. The program is designed to strengthen interoperability and foster multinational, multi-agency collaboration. To support this objective, each scenario brings together two different types of teams training side by side. Every training session is built around a customized scenario that reflects the specific operational needs of the participating teams and sponsors. Participants have the opportunity to work with the latest technologies and equipment, while industry partners benefit from direct, real-world feedback on their solutions.
Each session concludes with structured debriefing, during which detailed feedback is provided on the performance and suitability of equipment and products in relation to end-user mission requirements. Through this process, NCT PRO eXperience facilitates the exchange of lessons learned and best practices, offering valuable insights that can support both future product development and sales strategies.
This event will count on teams coming from militaries as well as other security groups, such as teams from Police Services or firefighters from all over Latin America, putting into practice many of the issues and discussions that will be presented in the conference.
CONFERENCE
The first session of the conference will be conducted with Mr. Ilja Bonsen, President of the CBRNe Society, and Jose Zea Aguero from the CINQUI (Centre of Chemical Information) in Peru, who will also be the Chairman of the Conference. Together with them, they will also participate in the INTERPOL, CBRN expert Leonel Guerreri. They will not be the only ones, as this event is also expecting the participation of other speakers from the Colombian military. The intention of this first session will be to introduce the core themes and ideas of the event to all the different delegates. After this opening, there will be a Tech Tour meant to showcase all the different technological equipment and innovations designed to deal with the CBRN threats. These exhibitions will be done with the participation of a variety of different companies that have collaborated with the project and the plan of NCT Consultants.
After this tech tour, the first thematic session will commence. This first theme will be that of the impact that events such as illegal mining have on the general issue of CBRN threats. This session will be led by Major Rodrigo Javier Manzo Martinez, Chief of the “Ansina” Battalion of the Uruguayan National Army. This unit is formed by engineers. The issue that this session will tackle is of utmost importance in the context of where this conference is happening. Colombia is a country with extensive mineral wealth, but due to the size of the country, the adversity of its geography and the presence of non-state actors (which will be later addressed in a following session), it has also become a victim of a constant presence of illegal mining activities. The actors who perform these activities usually do not follow the procedures that are necessary for the usage of chemical products in mining, due to their illicit nature. As a result, there are cases where mining activities can have a colossal impact on local communities and authorities that are not always as prepared as they need to deal with them. Together with Major Manzo Martinez, the company Airsense, a collaborator of NCT Consultants, will also participate, as well as speakers from the armies of Ecuador and Colombia.
After a coffee break, the second thematic session will commence. This one titled, “Medical Countermeasures, Decontamination and Resilience in South America in the Response to CBRN in the 21st Century” will, as the title suggests focused on how to manage the medical consequences of the CBRN. This is also a very relevant topic that needs to be address when talking about how to govern the issues specific to CBRN, since it is not only something affecting the forces of security and defense, such as the police of the army but also to the Health related institutions since the impact of CBRN when not attended can cause profound health crisis in the affected communities and populations. This session will also mark the end of the first day.
On the second day, the first session will address a crucial topic for this conference, that of non-state actors, with the session titled “Illicit CBRN threats: non-state actors, dual-use materials and transnational crime in Latin America”. This is a crucial point of discussion when talking about CBRN threats these days. For a variety of reasons. Colombia is no stranger to the threat of non-state actors. For decades, the country had to deal with far-left militias such as the FARC or the ELN, far-right paramilitaries such as the AUC, or a variety of criminal organizations, among these the Cartels of Medellin and Cali. While the country has been able to stabilize all this violence, this one has not yet been eradicated. The peace agreement of 2016 was able to put an end to the activities of the FARC, but the ELN is still active in the country, a variety of dissidents within the FARC are still causing struggle in the country and while not as organized as in the past, paramilitary and criminal organizations are still a threat to security. The biggest threat to the future is a potential collapse of the Venezuelan state, which, if it happens, could lead to the spread of a wide number of armed militias, as well as criminal groups getting their hands on CBRN material from the Venezuelan army. If that happens, the consequences for the region could be disastrous. This session will count on former Director of El Dorado Airport Jairo Larrarte Aya, as well as speakers from Chile, Panama and Colombia.
After this important session, the following session, titled “Civil-military and multi-agency CBRN response in Latin America: Exercises, partnerships and capacity gaps” will tackle issues of collaboration between the civil and military actors in the governance of the CBRN-related threats. This will be done in the form of an exercise, and it will try to see what gaps exist in this governance. In a region where historically, the army has played a major role in the full administration of security threats, finding a good balance between civil and military authorities is crucial. This session will include Col. Alexandre Marcos Carvalho de Vasconcelos, from the Brazilian Army and Sgto. Primero Héctor Fabio Palacio Parra from the Colombian National Army, together with other delegates from the armies of Argentina and Colombia.
After this, there will be the last session, “Explosive Hazards in South America: Lessons from Landmines, EOD and Illicit Radiological Materials”, where the main issue of explosives and landmines will be put into focus. This will also include the topic of radiological materials, a very contentious and sensitive topic. As a region that has endured conflict for many decades, issues such as mine deactivation are crucial for regional and community stability. This session will include speakers from the Colombian army and police, as well as the Chilean armed forces.
After this session, both Mr. Bonsen and Mr Zea Aguero will offer a final speech and hand out the NCT Certifications.
