Caricom IMPACS to lean on regional partners for support

With the US reviewing its foreign aid policies over the next three months, Caribbean Implementation Agency For Crime And Security (IMPACS) head, Lt Col Michael Jones, says the regional security agency will have to pivot.

Last Friday, president Donald Trump signed an executive order stopping most of the US’s foreign aid to countries, a decision that will be reviewed in the next three months.

In a telephone interview with Guardian Media yesterday, Jones said Caricom IMPACS has always partnered with other countries so that it is not solely dependent on financial and other assistance from the US.

In 2023, then-US ambassador to T&T Candace Bond said the US had spent some US$832 million in the Caribbean to reduce illicit firearms trafficking, increase public safety and security, and promote social justice.

Part of that money included the partnership between the US Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Bureau (ATF), along with the US Customs and Border Protection. The partnership between the two included the formation of the Caribbean’s first joint gun unit, targeting the influx of illegal guns in the region originating from the US.

The Caribbean Crime Gun Intelligence Unit (CCGIU) was formed as the region began treating gun and gang violence as a public health issue.

Addressing the CCGIU specifically, Jones said the US’ pause on assistance will not significantly impact the operations.

“The CCGIU is not the only programme that we received US assistance in funding and operation. There were a couple of others. While there were some activities of training and sensitisation in some of the member states that would be impacted, the programmes initiated, their assistance would continue. So, while there are some of the activities that are impacted, especially stuff like training and so on, it does not significantly impact our operations.”

Asked about the impact that the paused partnership may have on addressing gun crimes in the region, Jones said IMPACS will now, for the next three months, protect the region solely.

“It was always a joint partnership, so we would continue to do all of it to protect our people in the region. There has to be some realignment whether or not it (US-led training) is going to shift in terms of when it is going to be conducted. But depending on the nature of what the training entails, some of the things we can work with other partners to accomplish.”

He added that they have partners outside of the US to lean on in the interim, highlighting a growing partnership with South Korea.

According to media reports, one programme affected by Trump’s decision is the T&T Defence Force’s Civil-Military Coordination training in disaster relief, which was supposed to start on January 25 but was cancelled. The training was to be done under the aegis of the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency. An anti-gang programme that was in the works is also in limbo as a result of Trump’s executive order.