North Miami-Dade News

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representatives María Elvira Salazar (R-FL), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), and Mark Green, M.D. (R-TN) introduced a bill to provide substantial funding to the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) for the next half-decade. 

“The Caribbean is a critical part of Miami’s economy, and the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative provides the necessary structure for growth, stability, and security in the region,” said Rep. Salazar. “We must continue to help our partners in the Caribbean invest in resilient infrastructure, develop a workforce for the future, fight gangs and criminal activity, and oppose the malign influence of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela in the region.” 

CBSI funding remains in an annual state of uncertainty, as funding for this important program currently requires reauthorization each fiscal year. To resolve this issue, Salazar’s bill would provide the program with greater long-term stability and authorize robust funding of $82 million per year for the next five years. The CBSI would include funding for Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The Caribbean region is particularly susceptible to the destabilizing effects of the drug trade. Since its creation in 2010, the CBSI has been crucial in helping our partner nations in the Caribbean improve their capacity to combat transnational crime, violence, and the regional instability that has been caused by years of devastating hurricanes. The CBSI has served as an important means of enhancing regional security of the United States while strengthening important partnerships in the Western Hemisphere. 

This robust long-term funding for the program will promote civilian safety, security, and the rule of law in the region by enhancing law enforcement and military capabilities, strengthening strategic cooperation, and bolstering local justice systems.

“The Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) is critical to our efforts to improve security cooperation with Caribbean nations and combat illicit drug trafficking, support justice sector reforms to strengthen the rule of law, and address instability caused by natural disasters throughout the region. Strengthening the security of the Caribbean in a multidimensional manner will help fortify stability and development with some of the United States’ closest allies. As we continue our work together, we are taking vital steps to increase citizen safety, build resilience to natural disasters caused by global heating, and improve strategies to reduce illegal narcotics trafficking in the region. I look forward to my continued partnership with my colleagues in the Senate—Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Marco Rubio (R-FL)—who recently introduced a Senate companion to this legislation. Our joint engagement to bolster support for the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative will help improve the United States’ effectiveness in addressing the ongoing concerns in the region and provide real, long-term solutions," said Rep. Espaillat.

“Strengthening security operations in the Caribbean Basin is crucial to addressing rampant narcotics trafficking and to support the efforts of Caribbean nations to enforce the rule of law,” said Rep. Green, M.D. “The more secure Caribbean nations are, the more secure the United States will be. Our legislation is the strong stand we need to combat transnational crime and the corruption that emboldens criminal organizations to victimize their own countries and the United States. It’s time to protect our third border—and this legislation does just that.”

U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced the Caribbean Basin Security Authorization Act companion bill in the Senate.

Original source can be found here.