 The Anti-Money Laundering Training for Latin American and Caribbean Parliamentarians seminar brought together parliamentarians from across the Latin American and Caribbean region in the Senate of Mexico ( Mexico City) for a two day capacity building seminar on anti-money laundering initiatives and combating the financing of terrorism. The seminar was funded by the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, Human Security Program, and Scotiabank and was hosted by the Senate of Mexico.
Under the leadership of Senator César Jauregui (host) and Hon. Roy Cullen, MP Canada (Chair of the GOPAC AML Initiative) and with contributions from a number of technical experts, parliamentarians undertook discussions on anti-corruption, AML and FT (Financing of Terrorism) and the role/importance of parliamentarians, as well as a comprehensive approach to the UN international treaties and conventions and FATF recommendations. The emphasis in the program on one hand was on improving the understanding on the part of parliamentarians of money laundering, its impacts, and international and national initiatives in the region to combat it. On the other hand, it was to develop understanding of what parliamentarians could do to help combat money laundering.
The result we were seeking from the seminar was to have participants develop and propose an action plan for the Latin American and Caribbean regions for consideration by the LAPAC and CaribPAC chapters, and if accepted, implemented by those chapters.
 Participants concluded that the best way to achieve this result would be to develop a single resolution proposing a series of actions at both the global and regional levels. The resolution produced by the end of the seminar was signed by nearly all of the parliamentary participants present. Those present from the Latin American chapter agreed to bring the resolution to the upcoming LAPAC General Meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina (April, 2006) for further discussion and implementation. The sole member from the Caribbean region at the seminar will raise this issue as part of the steps she is taking to form a Caribbean chapter. The GOPAC AML Chair, Hon. Roy Cullen, plans to use the resolution as a basis from which to develop future global AML activities.
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