Status of Funding, Equipment, and Training for the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative

What GAO Found

Why GAO Did This Study

Because of their geographic location, large coastlines, and small criminal justice systems, Caribbean countries are uniquely vulnerable to drug trafficking and high rates of crime and violence that undermine growth, threaten human welfare, and impede social development. In 2009, to help Caribbean countries respond to these threats, the United States created the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) with the strategic goals of substantially reducing illicit trafficking, advancing public safety and security, and promoting social justice. In fiscal years 2010 through 2012, the Department of State (State) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) collectively allocated about $203 million in assistance for CBSI activities in the Bahamas, the Eastern Caribbean, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Dominican Republic.

In response to your request for information on CBSI, this correspondence describes the status of CBSI funding in fiscal years 2010 through fiscal year 2012, as well as activities this funding has supported. Specifically, we describe the amounts of funding that U.S. agencies have disbursed for partner countries and describe related training, equipment, and other CBSI activities. CBSI funding has come from five foreign assistance accounts: International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE); Economic Support Fund (ESF); Development Assistance (DA); Nonproliferation, Antiterrorism, Demining, and Related Programs (NADR); and Foreign Military Financing (FMF). State manages INCLE, NADR, and FMF and shares responsibility with USAID for managing and administering ESF. USAID manages the DA account.

For more information contact Charles Michael Johnson, Jr. at (202) 512-7331 or johnsoncm@gao.gov.