CANSEC 2023 OPENING REMARKS, AS PREPARED
DELIVERED BY GEN. LAURA RICHARDSON, COMMANDER, U.S. SOUTHERN COMMAND
JUNE 6, 2023 IN MONTEGO BAY, JAMAICA
Good Morning! Wah Gwaan!
What a pleasure to be back in Jamaica, gathered with so many of our Partners, Allies, and friends to discuss the many important issues facing our region. I want to thank each of you for being here for the Caribbean Nations Security Conference 2023.
RADM Wemyss-Gorman, thank you for the warm introduction. Prime Minister Holness, Your Excellency, thank you for welcoming us to your beautiful country, and for hosting this year’s CANSEC.
Jamaica’s sparkling blue beaches, hills of the Cockpit Country, and cascading waterfalls are so beautiful, and the Jamaican people are so welcoming. Thank you for your gracious hospitality.
I want to welcome the Caribbean Ministers, Chiefs of Defense, and Police Commissioners. We also have multinational organizations, CDEMA – the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, CARICOM IMPACS (Implementation Agency for Crime and Security), and the Regional Security System RSS.
Additionally, I’d like to welcome our US Deputy Chief of Mission Amy Tochco, and DASD for the Western Hemisphere, Dan Erickson, and from US State Department Caribbean Affairs Kathryn Beamer.
We also have in attendance many observers from our regional partners and Allied nations, and institutions such as the Inter-American Defense Board, the Perry Center, and the Inter-American Defense College.
We also have The Adjutant Generals from Florida, South Dakota, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington, D.C.
The security threats we collectively face have increased in scope and intensity since we were together in Barbados during last year’s conference. Vital elements of democracy, such as free and fair elections, plurality, and separation of powers, are still under attack.
Climate Change and environmental degradation remain “threat multipliers” and pose a significant risk to our security. The fallout of Covid-19 continues to impact our economies. The malign activities of Transnational Criminal Organizations and our Strategic Competitors such as the People’s Republic of China, Russia, and Iran remain.
And the dire situation in Haiti casts a long shadow over the region. The fact is, these transboundary threats demand our attention as they place an undue burden on our citizens.
The magnitude of these cross-cutting challenges is a call to action and require each of us to work together to confront these threats.
We are gathered at a critical moment where we have a chance to further reinforce the shared democratic values that form the foundation of our partnerships.
This Caribbean region matters to the Western Hemisphere – it is so important!
And at the same we gather here in Jamaica with Defense and Security Forces for CANSEC, US Vice President Harris will be meeting with Caribbean Leaders in the Bahamas to address Global Warming and Climate Change.
This year, with the 50th Anniversary of CARICOM, we are committed to Strengthening Regional Security in the Caribbean through Informed Action.
And during this conference, we will focus our efforts on two big challenges facing the Hemisphere: Cyber Security, and Climate Change & Environmental Security. The results of our hard work will lead to the CANSEC ‘23 Joint Statement.
This Joint Statement will help guide and ensure our momentum of continued collaboration and progress for CANSEC ‘24. So we’re not just talking about the challenges, we’re committed to doing something about them.
In the Cyber Domain, malign state actors like China, Russia, Iran -- along with non-state cyber-criminal and hacktivist groups operate in the gray zone - below the threshold of armed conflict – deploy advanced and low-cost tools to influence, undermine, and destabilize societies.
These malign cyber actors are steadily increasing the size and scope of their attacks on government and non-government institutions alike.
Operations in the gray zone aim to establish access, steal sensitive data, and utilize disinformation and misinformation to influence the decision-making of governments, private industry, and everyday citizens.
These malign cyber activities pose a deep threat to international norms and to our collective security. Cyber is an all-encompassing domain capable of affecting every sector of society.
As a result, Cybersecurity is everyone’s business, and we must all work together to effectively counter the threats.
At the same time, Russia is trying to manipulate regional partner nation populations through disinformation campaigns and malign cyber activities. Through these campaigns, Russia continues to support the authoritarian regimes in Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Cuba.
These regimes are providing regional access to malign actors with ties to terrorism. Placing an undue risk to our security and our people. We must ensure that we remain vigilant and ready to counter any perceived or actual threats.
As Partners, these efforts present an opportunity to raise awareness and collective communication on how to degrade threatening posture that challenge growth and prosperity in many shared areas such as Science, Technology, and Security.
We must remain committed to exchanging best practices on Cybersecurity while sharing and exposing the nefarious activities of our adversaries.
Alternatively, Climate Change continues to be a critical issue that negatively affects military readiness and security. This threat expands mission requirements, degrades readiness, and diminishes military resources.
US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin has said, “no nation can find lasting security without addressing the climate crisis.”
Unrestricted by borders, extreme weather events like hurricanes, droughts, wildfires, and flooding continue to ravage the region with increasing frequency and cause grave harm to the region’s health, food, water, energy, and socioeconomic development.
Look no further than just last year when Hurricane Fiona slammed into the Dominican Republic, Hurricane Ian decimated parts of western Florida and Cuba, and Hurricane Julia resulted in devastating flooding, landslides, crop destruction, and deaths in Central America.
The numbers don’t lie. Land temperatures across the Caribbean, and specifically at Norman Manley International Airport here in Jamaica, have risen by almost 2°F since 1950, with the surrounding sea temperature rising the same amount since the start of the 20th century.
Correlated to the rise in sea temperatures, the number of named storms and hurricanes across the Atlantic Basin has increased significantly from 1850-2015.
Additionally, it is imperative that we recognize the damage to the environment caused by State-Owned Enterprises from countries like the People’s Republic of China.
PRC megaprojects are causing river erosion, polluting water, destroying fertile land, and destabilizing the delicate ecosystems relied upon by citizens for their subsistence.
These projects fall below international standards and lack environmental guidelines, safety standards, and worker protections - which leaves countries and their people to deal with the harmful consequences.
Inaction leads each of our nations down a path where the viability of our infrastructure, economies, and security is jeopardized. Together we will address these existential threats.
We have important work ahead of us today. This is a chance for like-minded partners to roll up our sleeves and strengthen our regional security. We can no longer simply discuss the issues; we must act.
Our actions today will further solidify our foundation of shared democratic values and set the stage for future CANSECs.
Together, we are – and will continue to be – stronger, more prosperous, and more secure than ever before.
Thank you.