A U.S. delegation will arrive in Guyana this week to participate in the October 13-14 Second Meeting of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) Commission. Headed by Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Caribbean and Central America Julissa Reynoso, the U.S. delegation is comprised of 14 members, including representatives from the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, and other inter-agency partners including USAID, the Department of Defense’s Southern Command, and the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security. The CBSI Commission Meeting, hosted by the government of Guyana, will convene CBSI partners to discuss preparations for the Second Caribbean-United States Security Cooperation Dialogue, scheduled for November 10, 2011, in Nassau, The Bahamas.
In Guyana, the CBSI partnership focuses on addressing social, law enforcement, and security challenges from international crime through increased maritime interdiction capacity; law enforcement training and equipment; countering money laundering and other financial crimes; and youth development through training and job skills development.
The First Meeting of the CBSI Commission was held in November 2010 in Kingston, Jamaica. The CBSI Commission meetings are designed to coordinate local, national, and regional security and crime prevention activities and policies. These technical working groups ensure effective and efficient implementation of programs, identify future program and policy needs, and inform policymakers.
CBSI fulfills the commitment to deepen regional security cooperation that President Barack Obama made at the Fifth Summit of the Americas, held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, in April 2009. By working together through the CBSI to substantially reduce illicit trafficking, increase public safety and security, and promote social justice, participating nations will increase citizen safety throughout the Caribbean.
