Jamaica, Cuba Working to Renew Security Agreements

Above: Havana

By the Caribbean Journal staff

As transnational crime continues to plague the Caribbean region, Jamaica said this week that it is looking to renew its security agreements with Cuba.

Jamaican National Security Minister Peter Bunting recently traveled to Cuba for a three-day working visit thatincluded talks with “top security officials,” the government said in a release.

Bunting and the Jamaican delegation also met with Cuban Interior Minister Abelardo Colome Ibarra, Head of the Police Jesus Becerra Morciego and Head of the Coast Guard Lazaro Roman, among others.

The Jamaica/Cuba Maritime and Police Cooperation Agreements expired at the end of September.

Jamaica said new agreements are currently being drafted by technical teams from both Cuba and Jamaica, and Bunting is expected to sign the documents on Jamaica’s behalf.

“Transnational crime has no borders. You can’t secure your own borders unless you collaborate with other states in the Caribbean,” said Major General Stewart Saunders, who was part of the Jamaican delegation, in a release. Saunders is the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security.

“You can’t be a stand alone, neither can Cuba or any other territory, so the more of these efforts and discussions we have to highlight our problems and see how best we can address them from a collective perspective… the better off we are,” Saunders said.

According to the Permanent Secretary, the agreements largely seek to strengthen “bilateral and multilateral relationships between both countries, to ensure effective cross border efforts in combating drug trafficking and other forms of organized crimes.”