President Granger calls for new security architecture to deter aggressors; create a zone of peace in the Caribbean.

President David Granger last evening while attending the 50^th anniversary dinner of the University of the West Indies (St Augustine Campus) Institute of International Relations made a call for greater security cooperation in the Caribbean.

The Guyanese Head of State was invited to deliver the feature address at the event.

A statement from the Ministry of the Presidency says the Guyanese Leader, in making a call for greater security cooperation, has allied himself with the position of Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, who at the 27^th Inter-sessional Meeting of the Heads of Government Conference of the Caribbean Community held in Belize in February 2016, had brought to the attention of regional leaders the urgency of the security threats facing the Region and the necessity for urgent and timely action to be taken to improve security across the Region.

President Granger in his address observed that ‘old’ threats still persist, while new threats in the forms of transnational crimes: narcotics-trafficking, gun-running, money-laundering and illegal migration have emerged. The region, according to the Guyanese President, has also witnessed the emergence of organised crime and violent ‘posses’ and gangs.

To this end he noted that security of the Caribbean will not improve on its own and that a Security System is needed to respond to the new security problems.

President Granger told the large gathering at the IIR’s dinner that individual countries of the Caribbean Community cannot, on their own, overcome threats posed by territorial claims, transnational criminal networks, epidemics and environmental jeopardy. He called for new security architecture to make the Caribbean safe, deter aggressors, combat illicit trafficking and create a zone of peace in the Caribbean.

The Guyanese Head of State is an alumnus of the IIR and a historian.