Above: Dominican Foreign Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso (UN Photo/JC McIlwaine)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Dominican Republic will join the Framework Treaty on Democratic Security in Central America as part of a commitment to addressing transnational crime, Foreign Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso announced Tuesday.

Troncoso was attending the SICA meeting in Tegucigalpa at the Presidential Palace, a meeting attended by United States Vice President Joe Biden.

The Foreign Minister said that for the Dominican Republic, common criminals and transnational organized corm had become a problem beyond the country’s capacity to act, due to what he called its limited resources to combat them effectively.

He said the country has been supporting regional efforts to consolidate a policy on security, both in Central America and the Caribbean.

“The best way to combat this scourge is by promoting concrete actions to provide effective security for all,” he said.

Troncoso said that the Dominican Republic, which is an associate member of SICA, has been working alongside CARICOM and the United States to combat drug trafficking and other cross-border crimes.