Miami, Mar 16 (EFE).- Two US senators have presented a bill to counter drug trafficking in the Caribbean, prevent gang-related violence and conduct criminal investigations in the region, announced a statement released Thursday.
The bipartisan initiative, introduced by Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine, aims to “enhance the security partnership between the United States and the Caribbean” and “prioritize resilience to natural disasters.” among other purposes, as read in the text of the proposal.
The measure requests to “appropriate” to the Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) $74,800,000 for the fiscal years from 2023 to 2027.
“This crucial bipartisan and bicameral legislation would enhance an interagency initiative to provide training and equipment to law enforcement agencies in Caribbean countries,” Rubio said.
Rubio, who is the ranking Republican member of the Senate subcommittee on Latin America, added that this legislative proposal, called the “Caribbean Basin Security Initiative Authorization Act,” comes at a time of “enormous challenges and difficulties.
“At a time when our region faces enormous challenges and difficulties, it is important that the United States government help our democratic allies to counter drug trafficking, prevent gang-related violence, and conduct criminal investigations,” he said. .
According to the statement from Rubio’s office, “the collapse of law and order in Haiti demonstrates the grave threat that corruption and drug trafficking pose to Caribbean countries.”
“Meanwhile, Moscow and Beijing continue to expand their influence in the Western Hemisphere. Greater US engagement with regional governments would increase security and stability for all,” she warned.
Kaine, for his part, assured that “promoting stability and cooperation in the Caribbean strengthens our own national security, increases the resilience of our Caribbean partners and counteracts the growing influence of the Chinese Communist Party in the Western Hemisphere.”
“Making these resources available to help counter drug trafficking, corruption, and the destabilizing impacts of climate change is a common sense step, and I urge my colleagues to join us in working to make the Western Hemisphere more safer and more prosperous for all,” Kaine said.
