With the objective of strengthening cooperation among governments to counter transnational crime and terrorism, experts from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and the United States with experience in countering terrorism, terrorist financing, and transnational crime, are participating in this RSM meeting.
The experts are sharing information to deepen each country’s understanding of the risks of terrorists, those who support terrorists, and organized criminal groups pose to the region; identify vulnerabilities that these groups are exploiting; and develop recommendations to mitigate these risks and increase regional cooperation to combat these groups.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Paraguay hosts this meeting of the Mechanism Regional Security and leads the delegation of the Government of Paraguay composed of researchers, prosecutors, financial analysts and customs officials.
This initiative is part of the continuous effort of the Embassy of the United States of America in Paraguay in promoting cooperation to increase local and regional institutional and inter-institutional capacity, provide staff training and technical assistance, as well as better information exchange between participating countries.
Background
On the occasion of the visit of the Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, the United States, Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay agreed on July 19th in the city of Buenos Aires, to establish a Regional Security Mechanism (RSM) to bolster cooperation among these governments to counter transnational crime and terrorism. Transnational criminal groups, terrorists and those who support terrorists continue to engage in a wide range of illicit schemes in the region. The RSM will focus on identifying vulnerabilities that these groups are exploiting and on developing solutions to address these threats. The RSM also agreed to hold its first meeting, at the expert level, in November 2019 in Asuncion, Paraguay.
