Above: US Ambassador Larry Palmer and St Kitts and Nevis Foreign Minister Patrice Nisbett (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

St Kitts and Nevis Foreign Minister Patrice Nisbett met Tuesday with Larry Palmer, the United States’ Ambassador to Barbados and Eastern Caribbean.

It was the first meeting between the two since Nisbett replaced former Foreign Minister Sam Condor following a Cabinet reshuffle earlier this month.

As it was during the recent CARICOM conference in Haiti, a major talking point was regional security, particularly the US-backed Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, along with the issue of gender-based violence in the region.

Palmer said gender-based violence was also a major priority for the administration of US President Barack Obama, praising St Kitts and Nevis for its progress in dealing with that issue.

“We generally seek to strengthen our legal framework in order to ensure that if there are instances it can be generally addressed under the law,” Nisbett said. “What is very important and where you have given us the necessary assistance is in terms of the institutional strengthening of our agencies which are responsible for investigating and prosecuting offenses of such a nature.”