The American President, Joe Bidensaid Sunday that Bolivia and Venezuela have failed to comply with international agreements against drug trafficking in the past 12 months and identified a dozen Latin American countries as major drug transit or production sites.
In a memorandum sent to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Democratic President Defines Twenty Countriesmainly from Latin America and the Caribbean, as “major transit or production sites for illicit drugs”.
The list includes Afghanistan, Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Burma, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Peru and Venezuela.
As provided for in the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, the American president must report annually on the countries he considers to be major drug producers or transit points in the world.
To configure the list, a “combination of geographic, commercial and economic factors is taken into account.” which allow the circulation or production of drugs or chemical precursors, even if a government has implemented strict drug control measures.
The memorandum to which you had access Efespecifies that the presence of a country on this list “does not necessarily reflect its government’s anti-drug efforts or the level of cooperation with the United States,” and emphasizes that This is not “a sanction”.
Bolivia and Venezuela, along with Burma, are the only three countries considered to have “manifestly failed in the past 12 months to meet their obligations under international anti-drug agreements.”
Despite this, Biden stresses that support for aid programs to these three countries is “vital” to American interests.
Although the Bolivian executive has taken “positive” measures against coca cultivation, according to the president, there is still work to be done.
The memo adds that, according to provisional data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in the United States there were some 107,543 overdose deaths in 2023, a decrease of 3% from 2022.
Biden hailed the annual decline in overdose deaths since 2018. and he attributed it to the efforts of his administration, but he also wanted to emphasize that solving the problem is a global effort that requires a coordinated international response.
He said building a strong, long-term relationship with “crucial” allies like Mexico is imperative to effectively combat the fentanyl epidemic and dismantle the criminal organizations that profit from the drug.
“We will continue to work closely with Mexico to prevent the diversion of precursor chemicals and drug-related equipment, improve interdiction, investigations and criminal justice outcomes, and (…) advance border integration,” the note said.
Biden described Colombia as a strong partner and stressed that he continues to work closely with the country to reduce cocaine production, and also considers Peru as a committed partner in this work.
His memo includes numerous references to Chinawhich says that while it has taken significant steps over the past year to reduce the flow of precursor chemicals to illicit drug producers, sustained regulatory action is needed to significantly reduce its role as a source of precursor chemicals.
