The Second Caribbean-United States Security Cooperation Dialogue will begin today in The Bahamas.
In a press release, the CARICOM Secretariat said the Nassau meeting will discuss the accomplishments of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) since the inaugural security Cooperation dialogue in Washington, DC, in May 2010.
US President Barack Obama had set in train the Caribbean-US security initiative at the Fifth Summit of the Americas, which was held in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, in April 2009. Since then, the US and Caribbean governments have been meeting to jointly define and develop the goals and scope for the CBSI.
The opening session of the meeting will feature keynote presentations from Prime Minister of The Bahamas Hubert Ingraham and US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. It will also feature several plenary sessions in which discussions will be held on greater regional cooperation and sustainability of the joint security initiative, maritime security, law enforcement, and crime prevention and social justice.
The sessions will benefit from presentations by representatives of CARICOM Member States, the Dominican Republic, the US departments of Defense and State and the CARICOM Secretariat. A joint statement will be issued at the conclusion of the meeting.
