-Meeting sets a course for regional security cooperation and enhancement.

 

The Minister with the portfolio for National Security, the Honourable Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. Robeson Benn, M.P along with the Head of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit, Mr. James Singh, represented Guyana at the First Ministerial Meeting against Transnational Organized Crime in South America (23 – 24 June), in Brazil.

 

The two-day meeting was hosted by Mr. Anderson Gustavo Torres, Minister of Justice and Public Security, Brazil and comprised of Ministers and High Authorities of Home Affairs; Combating Trafficking in Persons; Interior; Government; Justice and Police, of Defense Policies; and Public Security; of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Guyana.

 

The two-day event was aimed to establish a strategic alliance among the countries to fight against transnational organised crime, to be implemented per each country’s applicable domestic law and international law principles, such as the protection of human rights, the promotion of human dignity, and the protection of public security workforce.

 

Additionally, emphasis was placed on the importance of cooperation among the participating countries to successfully combat the fight against organised criminality, such as the smuggling of illicit drugs, guns and ammunition, lumber, ivory, gold, counterfeit pharmaceuticals, money laundering, trafficking in person; either by air, land or sea.

 

It also allowed for enhanced exchange of crime intelligence data, integrated actions, joint capacity building and planning of criminal investigations to help close security gaps against transnational organised crime in the region.