Grande-Marlaska calls for strengthening cooperation with Latin America and the Caribbean to combat organised crime "more effectively"

The Minister for Home Affairs, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, speaking at the annual PACCTO 2.0 event

Fernando Grande-Marlaska defended transnational cooperation as the "most effective" measure to fight drug trafficking and organised crime, "with actions that go beyond local or national measures, even beyond the European Union, but which must be coordinated with Latin America and the Caribbean," he said.

Grande-Marlaska made these remarks in Lima (Peru), during his intervention in the panel "Challenges posed by the new forms of organised crime", in the framework of the annual event of PACCTO 2.0, a cooperation programme of the European Union to support Latin America and the Caribbean in the fight against drug trafficking and serious crime.

The panel, moderated by Garth Wilkin, Attorney General and Minister for Legal Affairs of St Kitts and Nevis, also included Luis Edmundo Suárez, Deputy Minister for Strategy and Planning of the Colombian Ministry of Defence; Vivian Georgis of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court; and Ángel Valencia, Attorney General of Chile.

"We share challenges with our neighbours and with partners from other continents. The reality forces us to work in a coordinated way, to support each other and to combine resources and efforts," said the minister during the event, which opened on Monday and will last four days, until 20 June, with the participation of more than 350 experts and authorities.

Grande-Marlaska highlighted the importance of PACCTO 2.0 as "a turning point" in the management of joint projects between the two regions, which has enabled the establishment of "robust police, judicial and penitentiary cooperation", and which has achieved "particularly important advances in the field of security." The minister also stressed that the progress has been possible thanks to the "firm and determined commitment and support" of the Latin American and European governments and the European Commission.

"Together we are stronger", stressed Grande-Marlaska, who recalled Spain's support for this bi-regional cooperation and its impetus every time it has held the presidency of the Council of the European Union, "with the conviction that only through a coordinated and structured approach can we face the global challenges of transnational organised crime."

The minister made specific reference to the Latin American Committee on Internal Security (CLASI), which in the last three years has become "a key instrument" for the articulation of common strategies in Latin America. The Spanish presidency of the EU in 2023 promoted a ministerial meeting, held in Brussels on 28 September, to strengthen cooperation against serious and organised transnational crime and to establish a schedule of regular meetings.

Non official translation