Above: Suriname Ambassador to the OAS Niermela Hindori-Badrisingh (OAS Photo/Patricia Leiva)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Suriname and the Organization of American States signed an agreement Tuesday for the donation of a firearms marking machine to the country.

Suriname is the latest Caribbean country to sign such an agreement with the regional body. The initiative is part of a wider effort by OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza to combat the illegal arms trade in the Americas.

“The role of the OAS within this context clearly defines our regional body as a strategic partner for national governments,” said Niermala Hindori-Badrisingh, Suriname’s Ambassador to the OAS.

She said the signing signaled the “commitment of my government to combat crime in general.”

The project is being funded by the government of the United States.

“You can’t effectively trace, if you do not keep records, and you cannot keep effective records without marking weapons,” said Steven Costner, deputy director in the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement of the US State Department. “We have numerous confirmations on guns being recovered and persons being arrested and prosecuted in various countries where we have cooperated in this effort.”

Suriname is the 15th Caribbean country to have signed a cooperation agreement with the OAS in this regard.