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1 1 (August 27, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govehcq0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Caribbean Basin Security Initiative The United States developed the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI), aregionalU.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 s ecurity, and promote socialjustice. Because of their geographic location, many Caribbean nations are vulnerable to being used as transit countries forillicit drugs fromSouth America destinedfor the U.S. and European markets. Strengthened U.S. counternarcotics cooperation with Mexico and Central America-through the Merida Initiative and the Central America Regional Security Initiative (CARSI)-led U.S. policymakers to anticipate a potential increase in narcotics trafficking throughthe Caribbean. Many Caribbean countries have also suffered high rates of violent crime, including murder, often associated with drug trafficking activities. President Ob ama 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 inauguralCaribbean-U.S. Security CooperationDialogue, 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 ofstrengthening regionalcoordination to address shared security challenges. In June 2017, the State Departmentreleased a U.S. strategy for engagement in the Caribbean (required by P.L. 114-291, the United States-Caribbean Strategic Engagement Actof 2016). Among the priorities for engagement is security, with the objectives of strengthening mutualnational security and advancing citizens' safety through programs to dismantle criminal and terrorist organizations, curb the trafficking of illicit goods andpeople, strengthen therule of law, and counter vulnerability to terrorist threats-all efforts central to the CBSI. Congres s has supported funding for the CBSI. From FY2010 throughFY2021, Congress appropriated $751 million for the CBSI, benefiting 13 Caribbean countries- Antiguaand 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). From FY2018-FY2021, Congress did not approve Trump Administration budget requests that would have cut CBSI funding significantly. For FY2021, the Administration requested $32 million for the CBSI, a cut of almost 47% from that appropriated in FY2020; 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 Adminis trationrequested $66 million for the CBSI, 10% more than that appropriated in FY2020 and about 12% less than that appropriated for FY2021. In congressional action to date, the House-passed FY2022 foreign aid appropriations bill, H.R. 4373, would appropriate notles s than $80 million for the CBSI. The Caribbean Basin Security Initiative Authorization Act, H.R. 4133, introduced in June 2021, would authorize $74.8 million for the CBSI for each fiscal year fromFY2022 through FY2026 and would establish monitoring and reporting requirements for the program. The House had approved a similarbill in the 116th Congress, H.R.7703, but the Senate did not consider the measure. Coordinatedby the State Department's Bureau ofWestern Hemisphere affairs and implemented largely by the State Department, USAID, and theDepartmentof Defense, the CBSI has targetedU.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 Fnforcement Capacity Building, including assistance to improve law enforcement though police profes sionalization, anti-corruption trainng, and community-based policing; Border/Port Security and Firearms Interdiction, including support to improve capacity to intercept smuggled narcotics, weapons, bulkcash, and other contraband at airports and seaports; Justice Sector Reform, including support to increase theefficacy of prosecutors and criminal courts and reform and s trengthenjuvenile jus tice systems; and Crime Prevention and At-Risk Youth, including assistance to populations vulnerable to being victims of crime or at risk ofrecruitment into criminal organizations. Althoughthe State Department has not published CBSI funding statistics by country, a February 2019 U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report shows that fromFY2010 throughFY2018, the Dominican Republic received almost23% ofCBSI funding, Jamaica just over 19%, 24% went to seven Eastern Caribbean countries, and2l% was forregion-wide activities. Updated August 27, 2021

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