US will continue to help Guyana, region curb illegal arms trade

United States Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, Bonnie Jenkins (right) with GDF Chief of Defence Staff, Brigadier Omar Khan at Camp Ayanganna (GDF photo)

-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.