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1 [1] (March 31, 2022)

handle is hein.crs/govehco0001 and id is 1 raw text is: informing th Vei Research re debae sin Updated March 31, 2022 Caribbean Basin Security Initiative The United States developed the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI), a regional U.S. foreign assistance program, in 2009 through a process of dialogue with Caribbean countries. The initiative seeks to reduce illicit trafficking in the region, advance public safety and security, and promote social justice. Because of their geographic location, many Caribbean nations are vulnerable to being used as transit countries for illicit drugs from South America destined for the U.S. and European markets. Strengthened U.S. counternarcotics cooperation with Mexico and Central America led U.S. policymakers to anticipate a potential increase in narcotics trafficking through the Caribbean. Many Caribbean countries have also suffered high rates of violent crime, including murder, often associated with drug trafficking activities. President Obama announced the initiative at the fifth Summit of the Americas in 2009. U.S. and Caribbean representatives held follow-up meetings and, in 2010, an inaugural Caribbean-U.S. Security Cooperation Dialogue, which approved a declaration of principles, a framework for engagement, and a broad action plan. In October 2020, Caribbean and U.S. officials held the ninth dialogue virtually, with theme of strengthening regional coordination to address shared security challenges. In 2017, the State Department released a U.S. strategy for engagement in the Caribbean (required by P.L. 114-291, the United States-Caribbean Strategic Engagement Act of 2016). Among the priorities for engagement is security, with the objectives of strengthening mutual national security and advancing citizens' safety through programs to dismantle criminal and terrorist organizations, curb the trafficking of illicit goods and people, strengthen the rule of law, and counter vulnerability to terrorist threats-all efforts central to the CBSI. Congress has supported funding for the CBSI. From FY2010 through FY2022, Congress appropriated $831 million for the CBSI, benefiting 13 Caribbean countries- Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago (see Table 1 and Figure 1). For FY2021, Congress appropriated not less than $74.8 million for the CBSI in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260, Explanatory Statement, Division K). For FY2022, the Biden Administration requested $66 million for the CBSI, but in March 2022, Congress ultimately appropriated not less than $80 million in the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2022 (P.L. 117-103; H.R. 2471), and required a spend plan for CBSI funds not later than 90 days after the bill's enactment. In addition, the report to the House-approved version of the foreign aid appropriations bill approved in July 2021 (H.Rept. 117-84 to H.R. 4373) directs the Secretary of State to provide to the Committees on Appropriations a report on the uses of all CBSI funding on a country-by-country basis for each program, project, and activity for FY2010-FY2021 and to integrate such information into the ForeignAssistance.gov website. The Caribbean Basin Security Initiative Authorization Act (H.R. 4133), ordered reported by the House Foreign Affairs Committee in September 2021, would authorize $74.8 million for the CBSI for each fiscal year from FY2022 through FY2026 and would establish monitoring and reporting requirements for the program. The House approved a similar bill in the 116th Congress (H.R. 7703), but the Senate did not consider the measure. Coordinated by the State Department's Bureau of Western Hemisphere affairs and implemented largely by the State Department, USAID, and the Department of Defense, the CBSI has targeted U.S. assistance in five areas: Maritime and Aerial Security Cooperation, including assistance to strengthen Caribbean maritime and aerial operations capability, improve radar coverage, and sustain those capabilities; Law Enforcement Capacity Building, including assistance to improve law enforcement though police professionalization, anti-corruption training, and community-based policing; Border/Port Security and Firearms Interdiction, including support to improve capacity to intercept smuggled narcotics, weapons, bulk cash, and other contraband at airports and seaports; Justice Sector Reform, including support to increase the efficacy of prosecutors and criminal courts and reform and strengthen juvenile justice systems; and Crime Prevention and At-Risk Youth, including assistance to populations vulnerable to being victims of crime or at risk of recruitment into criminal organizations. Although the State Department has not published CBSI funding statistics by country, a February 2019 U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report shows that from FY2010 through FY2018, the Dominican Republic received almost 23% of CBSI funding, Jamaica just over 19%, 24% went to seven Eastern Caribbean countries, and 21% was for region-wide activities.