VZCZCXRO2343
RR RUEHGR
DE RUEHSP #0276/01 1761755
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 241755Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY PORT OF SPAIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9239
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 3765
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0125
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0176
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 0405
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT OF SPAIN 000276 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR WHA/CAR 
NAVSOUTH FOR CDR EDWARDS, CDR BORNT 
SECDEF WASHDC FOR A. RICHARDSON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL MARR MASS KCRM PREF PGOV TD
SUBJECT: CARICOM HOLDS MILITARY COMMANDERS MULTINATIONAL SECURITY 
MEETING 
 
REF: PORT OF SPAIN 0170 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED; PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  Following up the April 4-5 CARICOM heads of 
government security meeting, the GOTT hosted in Port of Spain a June 
13-14 "Caribbean Community Inaugural Technical Meeting of Military 
Commanders."  A working-level USG interagency team from State, DoD, 
DHS and SouthCom participated.  Though the conference was short on 
specifics, CARICOM officials displayed a willingness to engage 
international partners through a comprehensive regional security 
framework based on regional institutions and legal agreements.  GOTT 
Minister of National Security Martin Joseph, who chaired the 
conference, pressed for several commitments but was only able to 
secure agreement to explore opportunities for greater international 
collaboration.  For the USG, these initiatives include proposed 
exchange visits with the Joint Inter-Agency Task Force-South 
(JIATF-S) and a DoD-supported Commanders Estimate on illegal 
trafficking issues affecting the region, along with an assessment of 
resources existing/needed to counter this threat.  With an eye on 
security for the upcoming April 2009 Summit of the Americas and 
later Commonwealth Heads meetings, CARICOM also intends to 
reestablish the International Support and Advisory Group and to 
convene a meeting of "intelligence practioners."   End Summary. 
 
-------------------- 
Meeting Kickoff 
-------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The Ambassador led an interagency team from State, DoD, 
DHS and SouthCom to the CARICOM Inaugural Technical Meeting of 
Military Commanders on June 13 -14.  The meeting was ceremonially 
kicked off by Prime Minister Manning who noted the centrality of 
security concerns to the region, the need for other nations to be 
concerned over the threat that uncontrolled crime/trafficking in the 
Caribbean might pose to them, and his intention to stay focused on 
this issue.  He also announced CARICOM leaders would shortly sign 
their long-delayed Maritime and Airspace accord and a common arrest 
warrant treaty.  The meeting was a follow-on session to the CARICOM 
Heads of Government April 4-5 security session.  In a pre-conference 
discussion among the U.S., UK and Dutch delegations (the French and 
Canadians were unable to attend), it was agreed that we would only 
be active listeners, taking any recommendations or concerns back to 
policy-makers. 
 
------------------------------------- 
CARICOM Threat Assessment 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Helping to orient the conference, Barbados Defense Force 
Intelligence Major Millington made a presentation concerning the 
current threat.  He highlighted narcotrafficking, arms trafficking, 
gang activities, irregular migration, deportees and transnational 
crimes such as terrorism, cyber-crime and money laundering.  Lynne 
Anne Williams of CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and 
Security (IMPACS) then presented an outline describing the current 
CARICOM Security Framework. She noted IMPACS' ability to provide 
policy coordination while the Regional Security System (RSS), based 
in Barbados, prvides operational support to the Eastern Caribbean 
 
¶4. (SBU) Continuing on, she highlighted mechansms already in lace 
to enhance security such as the Advance Passenger Information System 
(APIS), the Joint Regional Communications Center (JRCC), the 
Regional Intelligence Committee (RIC), CARICOM Intelligence Sharing 
Network (CISNET), Regional Intelligence Fusion Center (RIFC), and 
the CARICOM Watchlist System (CAWS).  She granted, however, that 
these measures are not fully utilized.  For example, some CARICOM 
members have not passed permanent APIS legislation following its 
temporary use during the 2007 Cricket World Cup (CWC).  (Note: 
During PM Manning's opening remarks, he specifically pressed non-CWC 
CARICOM members to commit to joining the APIS initiative.  End 
Note.)  She further added that information sharing is often 
disjointed and incomplete.  The overall concepts are sound, but a 
coherent strategy is lacking that would leverage international 
partner support or integrate with existing multinational 
information/intelligence sharing apparatus. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Areas of Possible Co-Operation 
-------------------------------------- 
 
PORT OF SP 00000276  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The agenda called for a presentation on the draft CARICOM 
Maritime and Airspace Security Cooperation Agreement.  Even though 
this item was assumed to be the focus of the meeting, CARICOM would 
only say that the agreement would be signed in July.  No additional 
details were provided.  The U.S., UK and Dutch delegations all 
stated they supported the concept according to the draft circulated 
in July 2007; however, policy and legal considerations prohibited 
further comment until the final document became available for review 
(especially as CARICOM officials said the 2007 draft had been 
substantially modified). 
 
¶6. (SBU) Conference chair Joseph then moved to discuss regional 
assets.  However, instead of enumerating CARICOM assets, the 
expectation was for Canada, France, The Netherlands, the UK and the 
U.S. to list the assets they could commit to support Caribbean 
nations. Specifically, CARICOM indicated a desire for vessels to 
patrol the Eastern Caribbean on a continual basis.  In response, the 
U.S. delegation expressed willingness to discuss ways to assess and 
complement regional capabilities and deployments, but noted the need 
to channel cooperation through JIATF-S and its efforts to stem 
illicit trafficking throughout the Caribbean.  Other outside 
countries took a similar stance, declining to commit resources at 
this time. 
 
--------------------------- 
Concluding Statement 
--------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) At the close of the conference, a concluding 
statement/press release was issued that noted the meeting had 
established that opportunities exist for strengthening security 
cooperation in the areas of operational planning.  Among action 
items mentioned in the statement were to schedule exchange visits 
between CARICOM and JIATF-S to explore partnerships, to conduct a 
command estimate on illegal trafficking in the region and to 
identify resources to counter this threat (including potentially 
through working groups).  Specifically with reference to the 2009 
Summit of the Americas and Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, 
the statement called for the reestablishment of the International 
Support and Advisory Group and the convening of a meeting of 
"intelligence practioners." 
 
-------------------------- 
Comment: A first step 
-------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) CARICOM officials made clear throughout the two-day 
meeting their view that much responsibility for Eastern Caribbean 
illicit trafficking (and associated social woes/crime) lies with 
consumer nations, primarily the U.S., Canada and Western Europe.  As 
such, it was incumbent on these nations to help in the fight to 
bolster regional security.  Though the session at times seemed like 
a donors meeting where the CARICOM hosts neglected to tell their 
non-regional guests in advance that there was an entrance fee, the 
conference righted itself after a bit of awkwardness and was a 
useful step in creating/fortifying a coordinated regional security 
architecture and plan. 
 
¶9. (U) A draft of this cable was cleared by some, though not all, 
USG meeting participants. 
 
Austin