Guyana Close to Joining Barbados Regional Security System

SAN PEDRO, Belize – Member countries of the Barbados Regional Security System (RSS) have agreed to sign a protocol to the treaty that established the RSS to allow Guyana membership, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley has said.

President Dr. Irfaan Ali and Prime Minister Mia Mottley confer during Tuesday’s session of the CARICOM Inter-Sessional Summit (Photo courtesy Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s Facebook page)In a statement posted on her Facebook page, Mottley did not provide information regarding the protocol, but said that all Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders whose countries are members of the RSS and are attending the CARICOM Inter-Sessional summit here “signed the protocol.

Once the Heads of the remaining members sign the protocol, Guyana will be able to join the RSS,” she wrote, adding “this is another example of regional cooperation and integration in action”.

Last month on a visit to Guyana, Mottley announced Guyana would be moving to become a member of the RSS that established in 1982 to provide security for the Eastern Caribbean.

“That is a significant impetus for us in the Southern Caribbean, Guyana’s military is long established and is well equipped and therefore the ability to have another anchor in the Regional Security System is something that will enhance the ability of the RSS not only to respond to National Security issues but in particular as we get ready to go into hurricane season,” Mottley said then.

The RSS was created out of a need for a collective response to security threats, which were impacting on the stability of the region in the early 1970,s and 1980’s. It has additional responsibilities to the wider CARICOM region as provided for under the Treaty on Security Assistance (TSA). The TSA identifies RSS Headquarters as part of the regional response mechanism.

The Barbados-based RSS headquarters is the Coordinating Secretariat of the CARICOM Security Assistance Mechanism.