Clinton pledges US help to fight drug, weapons trade in Caribbean
By Matthew Lee, APThursday, June 10, 2010
Clinton unveils Caribbean security plan
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is pledging the Obama administration’s commitment to fighting drug trafficking and other security problems in the Caribbean.
In Barbados for a meeting of regional foreign ministers on Thursday, Clinton unveiled the administration’s Caribbean Basin Security Initiative.
It devotes $124 million over two years to help island states improve their capacity to combat the illegal narcotics and arms trade and improve their ability to prosecute offenders.
Clinton said the program intends to complement similar U.S. cooperation efforts in Mexico, Central America and Colombia and help Caribbean countries deal with any spillover of crime that results from successes in those places.
