The Inter-American Committee against Terrorism (CICTE) held its Sixteenth Regular Session from February 25-26, 2016 at the OAS Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

The Chair of CICTE presented the Report for 2015-2016 and highlighted that under the chairmanship of Paraguay, the Executive Secretariat of CICTE was able to provide support to member states in their national and collective efforts to prevent, combat, punish, and eliminate terrorism in the Americas. From January to December 2015, the CICTE Executive Secretariat implemented capacity-building and training programs in all member states via 65 events that contributed to the strengthening and professionalization of over 3,500 officials in the region.

Member States also adopted a declaration on “Strengthening Hemispheric Cooperation and Development in Cybersecurity and Fighting Terrorism in The Americas”. In the declaration, the OAS member countries recognized that the threat of terrorism is exacerbated when connections exist between terrorism and illicit drug trafficking, cybercrime, illicit arms trafficking, money laundering, and other forms of transnational organized crime, and that such illicit activities may be used to support and finance terrorist activities.