(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Security talks involving the Caribbean Community and the United States began on Wednesday (20 May) at the Royal Ballroom of Hotel Torarica, Suriname as both Parties ‘knocked heads together’ to chart the way forward in clamping domestic and transnational crime.

Jointly chaired by Ms Astona Browne, Interim Chair of the Security Policy Advisory Committee (SEPAC), and the US Ambassador to Suriname HE Lisa Bobbie Shreider-Hughes, the CARICOM-US Technical Meeting on Security Cooperation comes one day ahead of the Eighth Council of Ministers for Security and Law Enforcement, and seeks mutual agreement on an action-oriented process to advance the security agenda of both regions.

In her opening remarks, earlier today, Ms Browne noted that the issue of security had become an urgent priority for both CARICOM and US because of the threats resulting from the illicit trafficking in drugs and arms and consequent rising incidence of violent crime globally.

She pointed to several initiatives that CARICOM had already put in place for crime prevention and stressed the need for further partnership and support in curbing transnational crimes, noting that “…cooperation with neighbouring states … as well as with external partner was paramount in addressing security threats.”

In her remarks, Ambassador Shreider-Hughes agreed that the security challenges confronting both regions should be addressed through cooperation, partnership and shared responsibility.

She explained that such partnerships would require adequate resources for enhanced law enforcement and preventative programmes, as well as “hard judicial reforms to strengthen state legal instruments necessary to combat transnational crime.”

Ambassador Shreider-Hughes said that the US was also committed to finding new and innovative ways to collaborate and coordinate individual and collective actions. “We must share information better and faster. We must leverage our individual and unique expertise, assets and resources more effectively,” she added.

In this regard, the US Ambassador proposed the establishment of a working group comprising the CONSLE, the Dominican Republic and the US to define a joint regional security strategy to complement CARICOM’s evolving strategy.

The meeting paves the way for further talks in the margins of a High Level Caribbean Security Cooperation Dialogue between Caribbean countries and the United States, set for Washington, in September, the agenda of which will be discussed on Thursday, at the Caucus of Security Ministers prior to the start of the Eighth CONSLE meeting.