-Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security
The United States Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, Bonnie Jenkins, yesterday said that her country continues to work with Guyana and the Caribbean to curb illegal arms coming into the region, and that this country is one which is producing an action plan for which US funding is available.
“We have the export ban. We are trying to do what we can on the US side to reduce the export of illegal arms. We have put the ban as we try to figure the best way forward to ensure that small arms do not get in the hands of non-state actors as well as those who should not be having possession of it,” she yesterday told a press conference held at the US Embassy.
“…We will continue to work with Guyana and other countries in the region… we are also working with CARICOM to provide funding to countries who are developing national action plans to try to address these issues,” she added.
Ambassador Jenkins said that Guyana was one of the countries that is developing an action plan and which when completed, will be granted financial aid. She did note that while it is a financial initiative, the US continues to provide capacity and other forms of building and support here.
“A lot of it is financial, but we work with the government…”, she explained.
She said that the issue of illegal guns being imported here was an area discussed not only with government as other stakeholders have expressed concern. “From all the conversations I’ve had while here in Guyana, that’s been a topic we talked about. We recognise concerns of the government and individuals here… we are working very closely with Guyana to address this issue and also with CARICOM,” she asserted.
The US envoy pointed to the export ban in late April on illegal arms that was imposed by the Joe Biden administration, as she assured that her government was working to ensure illegal arms do not get into the wrong hands.
On April 26 last, the US. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), released an interim final rule (IFR) amending the Department’s licensing policy for exports of firearms, ammunition, and related components under its jurisdiction.
“The changes being announced are intended to reduce the risk of legally exported firearms and related items being diverted or misused to fuel regional instability, drug trafficking, human rights violations, political violence, and other activities that undermine US national security and foreign policy interests.”
US Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo, had said on the measures taken, “The days of exporting military-style weapons to civilians in unstable countries are over. Under our new review process, it will be much harder to export these weapons to civilians in countries that pose national security risks.”
“The Commerce Department is protecting America’s national security by making it harder for criminals, terrorists, and cartels to get their hands on U.S.-made firearms. Too often, firearms exports fall into the wrong hands and end up being used in ways that directly undermine U.S. national security and foreign policy interests. To combat this, we’re taking strategic, targeted actions, including restricting exports to commercial entities in high-risk countries and increasing scrutiny and tracking of all firearms exports,” Raimondo had also said.
In addition to the new rule, on July 1, 2024, BIS will revoke currently valid licences that authorize exports of firearms to non-government end users in the destinations identified by the State Department. This change will align future exports to the new IFR. Those licences have not been reviewed under the updated policy, but licence holders are welcome to reapply so that their applications can be reviewed under BIS’s new standard.
The IFR is effective on May 30, 2024, and the Department will accept public comments on the rule until July 1.
Guyana is among the 36 “high risk” countries that the new regulations require exporters to run stringent checks on customers of small arms from.
The other countries from the region are The Bahamas, Belize, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.
In South America, the countries listed are Bolivia, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay, and Peru.
On the sharing of intelligence on the issue of illegal arms, Jenkins said that while she could not say how much was happening behind scenes, the US was pleased with this country’s response.
“I can’t say how much intel sharing is actually taking place, but I do know that we’ve been able to do more with Guyana and recognise that by doing that, we are both able do better on both sides. Both the US and Guyana can do better if we can share and be more transparent about what we’re learning and what we’re seeing,” she said.
When she met with Prime Minister Mark Phillips; GDF Chief of Defence Staff, Brigadier Omar Khan; and National Security Adviser, Gerry Gouveia; she said she and her team committed to working with Guyana to reduce violence in the Caribbean and decreasing the trafficking of arms.
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.
When he visited in January of this year, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Western Hemisphere at the United States Department of Defense, Daniel Erikson, was asked by this newspaper how the US was 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 year 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, fuelled 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.”
