Department of Defense Spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth L. Hoffman provided the following readout:
On May 25, 2022, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Policy, Western Hemisphere Affairs, Mr. Daniel Erikson, represented the Department of Defense at the 10th Caribbean-U.S. Security Cooperation Dialogue, the annual ministerial-level meeting under the Caribbean-United States Framework for Security Cooperation. The Dialogue was hosted by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and co-chaired by CARICOM, the Dominican Republic, and the United States.
The Caribbean-United States Security Cooperation Dialogue is an established forum to address our shared security challenges in the Caribbean, review progress under the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI), and strengthen collaboration to overcome these challenges. The Dialogue provides a mechanism to discuss strategic level security issues and to explore future cooperation activities in the areas of security and defense. The Dialogue centered around this year’s theme Advancing the Safety and Security of our Citizens.
The participants for the United States and the Caribbean discussed: 1) combatting firearms trafficking; 2) countering illicit maritime trafficking and transnational organized crime; 3) preventing youth crime and violence; 4) cyber security and cybercrime; and 5) human trafficking.
The representatives underscored the importance of continued partnership and regional collaboration to overcome these security challenges.