The head of Caricom is calling on the United States to take responsibility for the proliferation of the illegal gun trade in the region.
Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis made the comment while speaking yesterday at a media conference ahead of the 44th meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of Caricom.
The meeting is taking place in Nassau Bahamas from February 15-17 and T&T Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley is expected to attend.
Davis yesterday said several of the matters high on the agenda for the meeting were regional security and the continuing unrest in Haiti.
He said Caricom has been having discussions with both the United States and Canada on both issues.
Asked about the flourishing gun and drug trade throughout the region, Davis said, “As always, that’s a topic that we are continually discussing with the United States. We continue to remind them that their right to bear arms does not equate to the right to traffic in arms.”
He said the Bahamas has found that most of the guns being used to commit crime in that country can be traced directly to the US. Davis said these traces reveal not only the place where the firearms are sold, but the people who purchase them.
“We continually remind them (US) that we don’t make guns and we don’t export guns because we don’t make them and to find them in our countries, it must come from where they are being manufactured and they have to take responsibility for guns being found and being used in criminal activities in our region,” Davis said.
However, he said the region will continue to work with the US to stem the illegal gun trade. He noted that the Bahamas has had significant success over the past eight months in tracing and intercepting illegal guns being imported to the country.
He said the goal is to reduce the number of illegal firearms in the region to its “irreducible” minimum, where there will be no significant negative impact on member states.
Speaking about the continuing unrest in Haiti, Davis said Caricom was wary of sending troops into Haiti. Protests and political unrest in Haiti have worsened over the past year after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021.
The United Nations has discussed sending international aid to Haiti but those discussions have stalled.
Yesterday, Davis said the solutions to Haiti’s multitude of issues must come from within.
He said Caricom was turning to both the US and Canada for assistance in trying to find a solution for Haiti.
“What we in Caricom have come to appreciate is that we do not have the resources to be able to deal with the Haiti problem ourselves and we do need outside help and that help, we are looking to the North, to Canada and the United States, to come to the fore to help and it has to be a Haitian solution, not an American, Canadian or Caricom celebration, we are here to help them find a solution,” Davis said.
He said the goal is to stabilise Haiti’s unrest and ensure the country can have free and fair elections where both candidates and voters are free from intimidation and threats.
However, Davis said no Caricom member state has the resources to put an end to the unrest on its own.
Davis said climate change and food insecurity in the region will also be discussed at the meeting.