St. Vincent and the Grenadines and St. Lucia coast guard interceptors pass each other near Castries, St. Lucia, during training as part of Tradewinds 2013 May 28, 2013. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Paul Seeber/Released)
Saint Lucia has been excluded again from a list of countries due to participate in this year’s multi-national “Tradewinds” military exercise which will be held in Grenada.
A statement from the United States Embassy in Barbados on Tuesday (May 31) does not mention Saint Lucia. The island was also excluded in the 2014 and 2015 training exercises.
In 2013, the United States suspended assistance to the Royal Saint Lucia Police as a result of allegations of serious human rights violations which occurred between 2010 and 2011.
The allegations included claims of extra-judicial police slayings which was investigated. The matter is still pending advice from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution.
The paramilitary training Military will bring together security personnel from 13 Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member states — Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago — will join military personnel from the United States, Canada, France, and the United Kingdom for Phase I of Exercise Tradewinds 2016.
This year’s Exercise Tradewinds will be conducted in three phases: Phase I will include maritime and land operations, and will take place in Grenada through June 14; Phase II will include maritime and land operations, including U.S. Marines, and will take place in Jamaica from June 20-28; Phase III, a Key Leader Seminar, will be conducted July 20-22 in Miami for key stakeholders and decision makers from the region.
Exercise Tradewinds supports the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI), a U.S. Department of State regional security partnership. Phases I and II are designed to conduct joint, interagency capacity building exercises for participating nations. Those exercises focus on increasing regional cooperation in complex, multinational security operations, humanitarian assistance, and disaster response operations.
Participating regional organizations in this year’s exercise include the Regional Security System (RSS), Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), and CARICOM.
The Tradewinds will be hosted by Barbados in 2017.
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