Intervention by the Delegation of the Republic of Suriname on the Occasion of the Summit Mandated Experts Meeting on CSBM's, 3 - 4 February 2003, Miami, Florida.

Thank you very much

First of all,

On behalf of the government and the people of the Republic of Suriname I would like to add my words of condolences to the government and people of the United States of America because of the tragedy that took place last Saturday.

Allow me to thank the delegations of Canada, Chile, Argentina, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines as well as the representative of the OAS General Secretariat and Major General Freeman of the Inter American defense Board for their comprehensive and valuable presentations yesterday

We are looking forward to these reports in writing, so that they can be studied in more detail.

Mr. Chairman

According to the Constitution, the National Army is responsible for safeguarding the territorial integrity of Suriname, whereas the Police force is responsible for safeguarding public order and security. CSBM's are of great importance for the Government of Suriname. Reason why we are participating with great effort to many bilateral, sub-regional and multilateral defense and security exercises. We intensively co-operate with friendly nations in areas of defense, justice, information gathering and sharing, and the fulfilling of requests for legal assistant and aid.

To improve the exchange of information on security and defense issues both bilateral and multilateral agreements were entered into, mainly with the Caribbean Countries and France (French Guyana), the United States of America, Brazil, the Netherlands, Colombia, Canada and the United Kingdom. Many of these activities are reaching far beyond the traditional military scope. A great deal of these CSBM's are in the area of training programs, seminars, conferences, workshops, medical assistance, all in order to build confidence between us and our neighbors and friends.

The cooperation mechanisms enhance not only the flow of military intelligence but also the flow of information on many international criminal activities. In this regard it is proper to mention the close and intensive cooperation with among others the member states of CICAD, the International drug Enforcement Conference, the Association of Caribbean Commission of Police and INTERPOL.

Finally Mr. Chairman

Suriname recognizes the role that the OAS could and must play with regard to the CSBM's in our hemisphere and is therefore committed to support the decisions, which will be taken here today.

Thank you.

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