ABSTRACT
Governments in the Caribbean and Latin America continue to explore mechanisms designed to promote defence and security cooperation as well as the established dialogues on political and economic cooperation (see The Military Balance 2008, p. 55). The VIII Conference of the Defence Ministers of the Americas (CDMA), which took place in Banff, Canada, from 2-6 September 2008 had as its theme ‘Hemispheric, Regional and Sub-regional Defence and Security Enhancement: Confidence Building Through Cooperation and Collaboration’. Although the meetings are primarily focused on defence matters, they seek to broaden cooperation on a set of multidimensional security issues that affect the region, including drug and arms trafficking, people smuggling, health care, pandemics, terrorism and natural disasters.
