Santo Domingo.- Ecuador troops won the military exercises "Commando Force 2010" began last week in Santo Domingo with soldiers from 20 mostly Latin American countries, a Dominican Republic Armed Forces spokesman told Efe today.

After Ecuador’s 1,386 points, Argentina Army troops were second with 1,334 points; United States (1,330 points); Colombia (1,307); Chile (1,273) and Peru (1,243).

"For us this performance fills us with great pride because it shows our soldiers’ professionalism, who in fact were able to balance technique with physical training during the exercise," Ecuador Defense Deputy minister general Luis Grazon told Efe.

He said his country’s troops who performed well in the maneuvers belong to the Special Operations Group, that among other functions monitors the Ecuador-Colombia border, an area with the presence of Colombia’s Farc guerrillas. Our soldiers in the North border train daily, and are alert to what occurs in Colombia."

The war games staged from June 16 to 23 gathered more than 500 soldiers and police in a show of skills such as marksmanship, obstacle course, forced march, swimming, the handling of boats, among others.

Soldiers from Argentina, Bahamas, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guayana, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States and Uruguay took part in the training coordinated with the US Southern Command, and will be held in El Salvador next year.