Int’l security leaders resume dialogue on C’bean counter-drug efforts
NASSAU, Bahamas (CMC) – The United States Military Southern Command says strengthening capabilities, interoperability and information sharing to effectively counter transnational organised crime in the Caribbean will be the focus again for military and civilian leaders from 21 countries.
The Miami-based Southern Command, otherwise known as Southcom, said international security leaders who met here earlier this week, discussed the threat and ways to effectively reduce the presence and impact of organised crime.
This was the fifth consecutive year the topic was the central theme of the Caribbean Nations Security Conference (CANSEC), “underscoring the importance of the issue for regional leaders and their commitment to addressing it by working together”, Southcom said.
CANSEC XIII, co-hosted this year by the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) and Southcom, included more than 90 participants representing defence, law enforcement, government and international organisations from the Caribbean, North America, South America, Central America, and Europe.
The RBDF commander, Commodore Roderick Bowe, joined US Marine Gen John Kelly, commander of Southcom, in co-hosting the two days of briefings, discussion panels and meetings.
Southcom said Kelly met privately with defence and security counterparts during the event to hear their ideas, concerns and viewpoints, and discuss bilateral defence cooperation goals.
“When it comes to the security of the Western Hemisphere, it doesn’t matter where you’re located on the map. If it’s a challenge faced by one of us, it’s a challenge faced by all of us,” Kelly said.
The meeting which ended on Thursday was attended by officials from Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, France, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, the Netherlands, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, the United Kingdom and the United States.
It examined illicit trafficking trends impacting the Caribbean, as well as the various programmes, activities, mechanisms and systems that support the region’s strategy to counter the threat and its effects.
