Caribbean vulnerable to threats of their security -Pres Granger tells Chilean students
President David Granger
President David Granger

THE security concerns of the big powers and the fact that some seem to behave as though the sovereignty of the small states is only “conditional” raise questions about the Caribbean Community’s capacity to preserve peace, even among its member states.President David Granger made this comment during a lecture he delivered to 80 Chilean and international students at the Andres Bello Diplomatic Academy of Chile on Monday.
That lecture was titled “Caribbean as a zone of peace”.

A former Guyana Defence Force commander and a retired brigadier, President Granger said the small states of the Anglophone Caribbean are not only vulnerable to threats to their security; but are, on their own, also incapable of responding to those threats decisively.

“Collective action is a necessity, given the scarcity of the human, financial and technical resources required to address the multiplicity of security issues. ‘Old’ threats, including invasion, insurrection, intervention, international and domestic terrorism, mutiny, maritime disputes, secession, territorial claims and coups d’état are still remembered,” President Granger said.

He said, too, that “new threats have emerged in the forms of transnational crimes, narcotics-trafficking, gun-running, money-laundering and illegal migration. These threats have been aggravated by other social aspects of crime, such as the deportation of criminals from metropolitan countries.

“The region has also witnessed the emergence of organised crime and violent ‘posses’ and gangs,” he declared.

The Guyanese Leader told the students that the variety of threats faced by the countries of the Caribbean is best illustrated by the security incidents which occurred in small states over the past fifty years. He said the world and the hemisphere are well aware of the vulnerability of small states, especially of the Caribbean; and noted that the special characteristics of the security threats they face have long been recognised by the international community.

Granger reminded the students that the United Nations General Assembly had, in 1994, approved a Resolution which, inter alia, emphasized: the vulnerability of small states to external threats and acts of interference in their internal affairs; the vital importance for all states of the unconditional respect by all states of all the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, including the principles of sovereign equality, territorial integrity, non- interference in the internal affairs of other countries, and the peaceful settlement of disputes and their consistent application; the importance of strengthening regional security arrangements by increasing interaction, cooperation and consultation; that relevant regional and international organizations can provide assistance, when requested by small states, for the strengthening of their security, in accordance with the principles of the Charter; that the Secretary General should continue to pay special attention to monitoring the security situation of small states, and to consider making use of Article 99 of the Charter; that the Security Council and other relevant organs of the United Nations should pay special attention to the protection and security of small states.

He said, too, that the General Assembly of the Organization of American States, in Resolution 1567 of 2nd June 1998, noted: “The small island states have concluded that their security is multidimensional in scope and application, and encompasses, inter alia, the military-political aspects traditionally associated with the security of states; the protection and preservation of the states’ sovereignty and territorial integrity; freedom from external military attack and coercion; freedom from external interference by states or by non-state agents in their internal political affairs; protection from environmental conditions and ecological disasters which could imperil their viability; the link between trade, economic development and security; and the ability to maintain and protect democratic institutions which ensure domestic tranquility…”

The OAS General Assembly, again in a Resolution adopted at the fourth plenary session held on 4th June 2002, observed: “that the security of small island states has peculiar characteristics which render these states especially vulnerable and susceptible to risks and threats of a multidimensional and trans-national nature involving political, economic, social, health, environmental, and geographic factors; that these security threats assume great significance in the security agenda of small island states because of the size of these states, their openness, and their limited capacity to manage these threats; and that there is a pressing need for a more effective management mechanism to assist the small island states in dealing with such multi-dimensional and trans-national threats to their security in a coordinated and co-operative manner…”

 

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