MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

OAS helps to combat illicit trafficking of firearms in the region

OAS Secretary General

As part of the Organization of American States (OAS) policy to help member countries combat illicit trafficking of firearms the organization this week donated a firearm marking machine to the government of Peru.

The initiative, implemented in 25 countries of the region, forms part of the efforts outlined by the Secretary General of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza, and defines the organization as a strategic actor in the fight against crime.

The machine was presented during a ceremony held at Arms and Ammunition Factory of the Army (FAME) headquarters in Lima, and was attended by the Deputy Minister of Defence Resources of the Defence Ministry, Jakke Valakivi; FAME General Manager, Colonel Carlos Pérez Ryan; and OAS Representative in Peru, David Morris.

The donation - funded by the government of the United States - is part of the program “Promoting Firearms Marking in Latin America and the Caribbean,” following the Inter-American Convention against Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials (CIFTA), and seeks to strengthen national capabilities on matters of firearms marking.

OAS also presented the government of Peru a special computer to facilitate the process of record-keeping on marked firearms. In addition, the OAS Department of Public Security will hold a training workshop on the use of the firearm marking machine.

 OAS principal goals is the strengthening of national capabilities of the Member States to respond, in an effective and efficient way, to the growing levels of crime and violence caused by the illicit trafficking in firearms.

In this sense, the OAS cooperates with the countries of the region with the objective that, in the shortest time possible, all the Member States will have established policies, as well as relevant legislation, to mark firearms at the time of manufacturing and/or import.

To date, 25 countries in the region have signed a cooperation agreement with the OAS to participate in the program: Argentina, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Costa Rica, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Uruguay, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, The Bahamas, and Trinidad and Tobago.