US pledges again to support CARICOM in fight against small-arms trafficking

Small-arms trafficking in the Caribbean continues to undermine regional security and the United States has pledged again to continue playing a lead role in the war against guns.

CARICOM has over the years, expressed concern at the high rate of illegal exportation of guns from the United States to the Caribbean and the negative effects it has had. Last year CARICOM declared a ‘War on Guns’ and voiced its disquiet at the rates at which guns were being trafficked from the US.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Western Hemisphere at the United States Department of Defense, Daniel Erikson, was on Tuesday asked by Stabroek News how the US is addressing the issue of small-arms smuggling.

“We recognise this is a big concern throughout the Caribbean because it is tied to illicit criminal networks… transnational criminal organised networks and to the overall drug and narcotics trade that exists in the region and of course can be linked to criminal minds in a variety of countries,” he said.

“The US government is focused at addressing this challenge primarily as a law enforcement issue, including providing additional prosecutorial assets to investigate and prosecute cases of illegal arms trafficking in the Caribbean,” he added.

Last April, during a regional symposium, “Violence as a Public Health Issue”, which was held in Trinidad and Tobago and attended by heads of government and representatives from CARICOM, deliberations saw the United States being criticised for not doing enough to stem the flow of illicit arms into the Caribbean.

At the time, some CARICOM states had signalled that their patience with Washington over this issue had expired. The CARICOM Heads also issued a declaration underlining their intent to crack down on illegal firearms and upping the pressure against Washington.

The preamble recognised that the epidemic of crime and violence in the Caribbean, fueled by illegal guns and organised criminal gangs, posed a threat to democracy and the stability of regional societies.

Deeply concerned at the high rate of illegal exportation of guns from the United States of America to the Caribbean Region, the Heads recalled the Region’s strong and enduring investments to support the United States in its ‘War on Drugs’.“…given our observation that the gun has become the new drug, as articulated in our separate 18 April 2023 Declaration, we call on the United States of America to reciprocate and join the Caribbean in its ‘War on Guns’.

The Heads further vowed to undertake a comprehensive overhaul of the criminal justice system to address criminal terrorists with a focus on proactive management of prosecutions, sentencing and the diversion of young people at risk.

 They also pledged to “strengthen regional forensic capabilities and collaboration among national forensic agencies with a view to improving the quality of evidence and speed the conduct of trials; prepare regional model legislation to bring greater harmonization and efficiency to the development and revision of national laws; immediately and effectively implement the CARICOM Arrest Warrant Treaty; and augment the jurisdiction of magistrates, the consideration of defendants’ options to judge-only trials, and the intra-regional rotation of judges and magistrates to admit or foster their greater exposure.”