A team of senior government ministers travelled to Washington DC on Friday, March 22 for high level talks with United States Attorney General Eric Holder.
The delegation included Minister of National Security Dr. Bernard J. Nottage; Foreign Affairs and Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell and Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Sen. Allyson Maynard-Gibson.
The discussions focused on national security issues including Human Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons, Gun Trafficking, opportunities for continued mutual assistance and other issues of mutual interest. This is in keeping with the governing party’s obligation in its Charter for Governance to aggressively fight crime under its proposed Operations Safe Bahamas.
While in Washington DC the team also met with Ambassador Luis CdeBaca who heads the Department of State’s Office that Monitors and Combats Trafficking in Persons globally.
These meetings follow on the heels of two days of bilateral talks between the two countries in Nassau in December 2012, culminating in the signing of an Amended Letter of Agreement (ALOG) and $2,135,000 through the Caribbean Basin Securities Initiative (CBSI) in support of this fight. The presentation took place on the 18th December 2013 at the Cabinet Office.
Signing the agreement on behalf of The Bahamas was Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration the Hon. Fred Mitchell and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Central America and the Caribbean Liliana Ayalde signed for the United States.
The Washington DC meetings with Eric Holder and Ambassador CdeBaca provided an opportunity for both countries to review the progress made to date.
The Bahamian delegation is due back in the capital on Saturday, 23rd March 2013.
Source: Elcott Coleby
Bahamas Information Services
Caption Photo:
Pictured from left are Eric Holder, United States Attorney General; the Hon. Dr. Bernard Nottage, Minister of National Security; Sen. Allyson Maynard-Gibson, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs and the Hon. Fred Mitchell, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration. (Photo courtesy of the Department of Justice).
