Guatemala, June 22, 2011. The First International Conference on Support for the Central American Security Strategy was opened today; the event attended by heads of State and Government, the Secretary of State of the United States and heads of international organizations.

The event was organized by the Central American Integration System (SICA)—which is made up of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and Dominican Republic—to integrate its member countries and thereby create a region of peace, freedom, democracy and development.

The regional conference is an opportunity to request political, technical and financial support from the international community to address national problems of violence, drug trafficking, and organized crime.

The floor was opened by Haroldo Rodas, Guatemalan Minister of Foreign Affairs, who said that in July 2010 the heads of State had agreed it was necessary to update and re-launch the security strategy and design an action plan to tackle the new security challenges in the region and the hemisphere. The plan was approved in May this year by the Governments of the region.

Therefore, SICA called on the international community, partner countries, and international organizations to join the effort and provide their knowledge and technical capacity in implementing the security strategy.

Project axes
Rodas provided information on the underlying axes of the security strategy: fighting crime; social prevention of armed, gender and youth violence; rehabilitation, reinsertion and prison security focused on restructuring the prison system, professionalizing security, rehabilitation capacity and social reinsertion.

He indicated that the fourth axis was the strengthening of Central American institutions, with a focus on modernization and professionalization, equipment provision for criminal investigations and early warning systems to prevent and mitigate disasters.

"We are here today to consider solutions and tackle the common problems we face in Central America. We, however, need the help of our partners to do so," he said.

Alvaro Colom, President of Guatemala and SICA President, said that in holding this conference, the countries are assuming their responsibility to fight drug trafficking and organized crime.

"Security is not exclusively a technical, military or police issue, but rather a humanitarian, political, social and environmental issue. Therefore, we should address it in a coordinated and comprehensive manner in order to rid our region of this scourge," he said.

The President explained that the region currently invests USD 4 billion in the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime: USD 3 billion is spent on the prevention of the crime, USD 500 million on fighting the crime and USD 500 on preventing violence. The remaining funds are spent on prison security.

"These figures point to a disproportionate commitment; therefore, we hope that here at this conference we can work towards a balance [...]; we believe that we are reaching the limits of our institutional capacity," he said.

For these reasons, Colom requested support from partner countries and organizations to fetter the actions of drug trafficking groups and organized crime.

Closing ranks
In his address, Felipe Calderón, President of Mexico, stressed the need for the countries to come together in fighting these criminal groups: "In tackling organized crime, we, the countries concerned, cannot be disorganized. Therefore, we must close ranks and coordinate our actions."

The Mexican President highlighted the critical situation in his country regarding the fight against drug trafficking; therefore, he said strong institutions, strong societies and international cooperation would be necessary to eradicate this scourge.

He added that the responsibility of drug-consuming countries must also be considered; therefore, international assistance must be proportional to the damage caused by drug traffickers in the regions where they operate.

Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia, presented information on his country's 40-year fight against drug trafficking, which has seen judges, prosecutors and police officers be killed. The country learned how to tackle organized crime and drug trafficking: "We have learned that drug traffickers are hardest hit when their money is confiscated. Therefore, you have to go after them from that angle."

The President suggested that to fight these groups a regional centre for asset laundering should be established as well as information platforms (so that the criminal background of individuals could be checked in real time) and an information centre to verify the legality of firearms.

Laura Chinchilla, President of Costa Rica, underlined the need for regional and international commitment to tackle this scourge as well as the importance of strengthening crime prevention.

"The strategy being discussed today is much more than a programme to tackle violence and crime in Central America [...]. The challenge must be faced with responsibility, and the efforts undertaken have not been compensated, because the fight against organized crime and drug trafficking has had negative consequences in the region."

Mauricio Funes, joining the call of President Chinchilla, said that the climate of violence, drug trafficking, organized crime and gangs constitutes a serious obstacle to investment and production in the countries of the region.

"By identifying the fortunes of criminal organizations, we will deal a blow to drug trafficking and organized crime, which has become one of the biggest illegal businesses in the world," he commented.

Economic support announced
The first individual to offer economic support to promote the regional security strategy was Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State of the United States, who said that her Government will provide USD 40 million, in addition to the USD 260 million that were allocated in 2010 to tackle these scourges.

"We are putting forward almost USD 300 million this year, backed up by an action plan focused on high-impact investments to create new capacities and catalyze change in the region," she said.

She added that the issue is also the responsibility of businessmen and the privileged, who should pay their taxes and become full partners in this regional effort.

Luis Alberto Moreno, President of the Inter-American Development Bank (BID), said that it would provide USD 500 million to support the strategy.

He added that the IDB had allocated 21% of its cooperation funding in 2009 and 2010 to the region's security efforts, and also declared that the Bank's support would continue because "without financial assistance, the plans to tackle organized crime would not be successful".

Pamela Cox, Vice-President of the World Bank, reiterated the Bank's political, operative and financial support for Central American countries, as well as offering technical assistance to the region's Governments in the areas of prevention and institutional strengthening to assist in the implementation of the strategy.

"The World Bank is allocating one billion dollars to Central America over four years so that its countries can employ the funds according to its priorities, such as the security strategy."