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OAS Donates Firearms Marking Machines to Ecuador

The Organization of American States (OAS) today donated two firearms marking machines to the government of Ecuador to be used by the Ministry of National Defense (MIDENA) to combat the illicit trafficking of firearms. This initiative, implemented in 25 countries of the region, forms part of the efforts outlined by the Secretary General of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza, and defines the organization as a strategic actor in the fight against crime.

The machines were presented during a ceremony held at the Department of Arms Control of the First Division of the Army of Ecuador, and was attended by the Undersecretary in Support of the Defense Sector of MIDENA, Sergio Fernando Herrera; the Director of Arms Control of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces, Colonel Washington Buñay; the Undersecretary of Defense of Ecuador Sandra Ramos; the OAS Representative in Ecuador, Pedro Vuskovic; the Director of the OAS Program for Comprehensive Action against Antipersonnel Mines (AICMA), Colonel Carl Case; and the AICMA National Coordinator for the OAS, Sergio Ugarte.

The donation—funded by the government of the United States—is part of the program “Promoting Firearms Marking in Latin America and the Caribbean,” following the Inter-American Convention against Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials (CIFTA), and seeks to strengthen na tional capabilities on matters of firearms marking.

The OAS presented to the government of Ecuador two special computers to facilitate the process of record-keeping on marked firearms. Among the organization’s principal goals is the strengthening of national capabilities of the Member States to respond, in an effective and efficient way, to the growing levels of crime and violence caused by the illicit trafficking in firearms.

In this sense, the OAS cooperates with the countries of the region with the objective that, in the shortest time possible, all the Member States will have established policies, as well as relevant legislation, to mark firearms at the time of manufacturing and/or import.

To date, 25 countries in the region have signed a cooperation agreement with the OAS to participate in the program: Argentina, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Costa Rica, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Uruguay, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, The Bahamas, and Trinidad and Tobago.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-339/12