Browsing: Caribbean

USAID Launches Regional Program to Promote Marine Biodiversity in the Caribbean Region

USAID Launches Regional Program to Promote Marine Biodiversity in the Caribbean Region

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) launched the USAID Caribbean Sustainable Ecosystems Activity in Kingston, Jamaica on October 1. The USAID Caribbean Sustainable Ecosystems Activity is a regional program based in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, that aims to reduce threats to marine biodiversity by addressing three priority objectives: improved management of marine protected areas, improved solid waste management, and…

November 07, 2024
Violence and Organized Crime Threaten the Caribbean

Violence and Organized Crime Threaten the Caribbean

The Caribbean is facing an unprecedented wave of violence and organized crime. The proliferation of arms, narcotrafficking, and the influence of transnational criminal networks are increasing homicide rates in countries such as Jamaica, Guyana, St. Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago. According to the July report Caribbean Gangs, published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), this region…

November 01, 2024
The Threat of Islamic Radicalism in Latin America

The Threat of Islamic Radicalism in Latin America

In recent months, a series of attacks, fortunately thwarted by police operations, have highlighted the advances and threat of Islamic radicalism from Hezbollah and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Latin America. Although their religious ideologies differ, these extremist groups share a common ground in the region on certain issues, including an increase in anti-Semitism following the…

October 21, 2024
US, Partners Work Together to Stem Drug Flow in the Caribbean

US, Partners Work Together to Stem Drug Flow in the Caribbean

The United States Coast Guard had a busy summer conducting narcotics interdictions in the Caribbean with its partners from the Bahamas, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) and the U.S. Coast Guard cooperated to disrupt a drug-smuggling operation in the Bahamas in August 2024. The seizure of a vessel near Long Island represented another…

October 03, 2024
SOUTHCOM Donates Two Mobile Clinics to Trinidad and Tobago

SOUTHCOM Donates Two Mobile Clinics to Trinidad and Tobago

On September 18, U.S. Southern Command’s (SOUTHCOM) Humanitarian Assistance Program through the U.S. Embassy Port of Spain donated two mobile medical units, known as “Clinics in a Can,” valued at $490,534 to the people of Trinidad and Tobago through the Ministry of Health. At the donation ceremony at the Port of Spain General Hospital, U.S. Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago…

September 27, 2024
Challenges of, Innovation among, and Cooperation Between Central American and Caribbean Air Forces

Challenges of, Innovation among, and Cooperation Between Central American and Caribbean Air Forces

From August 26-29, 2024, I had the honor of participating as the moderator of the Central America and Caribbean Air Chiefs Conference, hosted by the leadership of U.S. Air Forces Southern (12th Air Force) in Tucson, Arizona. The event was an opportunity for the heads of the Air Forces of the region to discuss shared challenges, from organized crime and…

September 18, 2024
China Expands Espionage Network in Cuba

China Expands Espionage Network in Cuba

China has expanded its global intelligence-gathering capabilities to Cuba, Washington-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), indicated in its July 1 report, Secret Signals. By analyzing satellite imagery and open sources, CSIS was able to identify four sites on the island that could facilitate espionage activities. One of the newest facilities is located at El Salao, near…

September 13, 2024
Going from Strength to Strength at the CMA

Going from Strength to Strength at the CMA

Founded in 2019, the Caribbean Military Academy (CMA), the academic institutional arm of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), is on a fast track to becoming the first of its kind in the region, providing a broad range of training and academic courses for the JDF and security forces worldwide. Its vice president of Training, JDF Lieutenant Colonel Nadine Notice, spoke…

September 10, 2024
USNS Burlington Arrives in Kingston, Jamaica for Continuing Promise 24

USNS Burlington Arrives in Kingston, Jamaica for Continuing Promise 24

Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport ship USNS Burlington (T-EPF 10) arrived in Kingston, Jamaica on July 9as part of U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet’s Continuing Promise 2024. In the wake of Hurricane Beryl, the USNS Burlington added additional emergency supplies that will be delivered to the government of Jamaica during the visit to assist in its recovery and as…

July 12, 2024
China Extends Reach in Antigua and Barbuda

China Extends Reach in Antigua and Barbuda

China’s influence in the strategic region that is the Caribbean is expanding with experts sounding the alarm. A natural paradise on the island of Antigua is about to be torn down to become a China-run special economic zone that will include a shipping port, its own customs and immigration (able to issue passports), a dedicated airline, as well as a…

July 12, 2024
Stronger Together: Dominican Armed Forces, SOUTHCOM Dismantle Organized Crime

Stronger Together: Dominican Armed Forces, SOUTHCOM Dismantle Organized Crime

Strength in unity, cooperation, intelligence, and patience were among the assets Dominican Armed Forces used to their advantage to dismantle several transnational criminal organizations that had set up parallel narco-economies throughout the national territory. With the support of U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) and the DEA, Dominican authorities dealt blows to narcotrafficking organizations through Operation Cayman II, considered the largest carried…

July 02, 2024
Haiti: Multinational Force to Take on Gangs Amid Spike of Violence

Haiti: Multinational Force to Take on Gangs Amid Spike of Violence

Hundreds of Kenyan police officers left for Haiti on the last week of June to lead a multinational force to assist the Caribbean Island in curbing violence and fighting violent gangs. The support of the 400 police officers, the first of the 1,000 that Kenya is expected to send to lead the United Nations- (U.N.) sanctioned Multinational Security Support (MSS)…

July 01, 2024