Hemisphere anti-terror effort gets increase.

• Author: Pappalardo, Joe
• Position: Security beat: homeland defense briefs - Brief Article

The United States has pledged an additional $1.6 million to strengthen and expand counter-terrorism coordination in the Western Hemisphere, officials announced at a meeting of the Organization of American States.

The message was delivered during a meeting of the Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism in Trinidad. The U.S. pledge represents approximately 80 percent of total hemispheric investments in this counter-terror effort.

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S. has contributed $5 million to the OAS program. Some of the money will also go toward assessing border controls in the Caribbean, and the unstable border area between Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.

Envoys at the meeting signed a resolution urging member states to update anti-money-laundering legislation by broadening the definition to include terrorist financing. The resolution emphasized the need to create digital passports that are harder to fake and make it easier to track criminals.

Participants debated the potential threats to...