The United States is moving to engage the Caribbean immediately in a wide-ranging security cooperation dialogue which is expected to identify the means of countering threats from illicit trafficking in drugs, persons and weapons.

According to a statement by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, she announced on Thursday in a meeting with leaders of Caricom and the Dominican Republic, who were in New York attending the UN General Assembly, United States support for and commitment to begin immediately a wide-ranging US-Caribbean security cooperation dialogue.

In the statement released by the US Embassy in Georgetown on Friday the US Secretary of State said that through this dialogue the United States and its Caribbean partners will identify the means to counter the threats posed to their citizens and democratic states by illicit trafficking in drugs, persons and weapons.

Rice said further that “We will also develop long-term solutions to the vulnerabilities that make our nations targets of exploitation by organized crime and drug trafficking cartels.”

In the coming months, Rice added, the United States will work closely with its Caribbean partners to articulate a framework for expanding cooperation and marshalling resources in common response to these shared challenges.