State Department to Host Inaugural Caribbean-U.S. Security C

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State Department to Host Inaugural Caribbean-U.S. Security Cooperation Dialogue


Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC

May 26, 2010




The Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs will host a day-long meeting with high-level representatives from Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries, the Dominican Republic, and non-Caribbean partner nation observers on Thursday, May 27, 2010, starting at 8:30 a.m. The event will be a forum for the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI), which will in turn create a framework for partnership and improving security and citizen safety throughout the Caribbean, two core U.S. objectives for the region. Key goals for this partnership include substantially reducing illicit trafficking, increasing citizen safety, and promoting social justice. Thursday’s meeting is the culmination of over a year of consultations, both within CARICOM and between the CBSI countries and the United States.

This partnership will be an ongoing collaboration that draws upon and helps develop the capacity of the Caribbean region to address common and related challenges. In addition to law enforcement cooperation, partnership activities will include important elements of judicial reform, as well as development and education components intended to provide at-risk youth of the region with improved prospects for social and economic inclusion.

The following sessions are open for press coverage:

Opening Remarks by Assistant Secretary Arturo Valenzuela - Loy Henderson Auditorium
Pre-set time for cameras is 7:30 a.m. from the 23rd Street Entrance
Final access time for writers and stills is 8:15 a.m. from the 23rd Street Entrance

Remarks by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder - Loy Henderson Auditorium
Pre-set time for cameras is 9:30 a.m. from the 23rd Street Entrance
Final access time for writers and stills is 11:15 a.m. from the 23rd Street Entrance

Media representatives may attend these events upon presentation of one of the following: (1) a U.S. Government-issued identification card (Department of State, White House, Congress, Department of Defense or Foreign Press Center), (2) a media-issued photo identification card, or
(3) a letter from their employer on letterhead verifying their employment as a journalist, accompanied by an official photo identification card (driver's license, passport). Please allow 15 minutes to process through security.

PRESS CONTACT:
Darla Jordan, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, U.S. Department of State
(202) 647-4252
WHAPress@State.Gov



PRN: 2010/682