The United States designated Venezuela as a country of trafficking and drug production

The government of United States publish this Wednesday the list of main countries which work with traffic for drug trafficking, As well as the main producers of illicit drugs. Among them stands out Venezuela, Where the regime of Nicolás Maduro in recent years has increased its collaboration with organized crime.

“Design a Bolivia i Venezuela as countries that have not made substantial efforts during the previous 12 months to meet their obligations under international anti-narcotics agreements “, noted President Joe Biden in a statement sent to the State Department.

“I have also determined that U.S. programs that support Bolivia and Venezuela they are vital to the national interests of the United States“, He added.

In this regard, Biden urged the government of Luis Arce, political dolphin of Evo Morales, one of the main allies of dictator Maduro, “to take additional measures to safeguard the country’s licit coca markets from criminal exploitation and to reduce the illicit cultivation of coca that continues to exceed legal limits under domestic laws for medicinal and traditional use. “

The United States also pledged to work with countries in the Western Hemisphere, such as Colombia and Mexico, “to meet the challenges they share in drug trafficking and use.”

“My Administration will try to expand cooperation with key partners, such as Mexico and Colombia, to shape a collective and comprehensive response and expand efforts to address the production and trafficking of dangerous synthetic drugs that are responsible for many of our overdose deaths, particularly fentanyl, fentanyl analogs, and methamphetamine. “, Biden stressed.

In the case of Mexico, he stressed the need to intensify efforts to “dismantle transnational criminal organizations and their networks,” and increase trials against the leaders of these groups.

The Democratic president advanced that his government will also try to expand cooperation with China, India and other countries “to disrupt the global flow of synthetic drugs and their chemical precursors.”

The list of countries for drug trafficking and production completes it Afghanistan, Bahamas, Belize, Myanmar, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama and Peru.

“The reason the countries on the list are included is the combination of geographical, trade and economic factors that allow for the transit or production of drugs,” the text signed by Biden states.

The president argued that the United States is currently experiencing an “epidemic of drug addiction and overdose,” making it one of the top public health priorities in the country. “Tackling this epidemic will require both new domestic investment and increased cooperation with foreign partners to attack illicit drug suppliers and the criminal organizations that benefit from them.”

On the issue, he recalled that since the Rescue Act pushed by his Government, nearly four billion dollars are committed “to support behavioral health programs and substance use disorders.”

“My Administration’s budget request for fiscal year 2022 details $ 10.7 billion to support research, prevention, treatment, evidence-based harm reduction and support services to the recovery, with specific investments to satisfy the needs of the populations with greater risk of overdose and disorders by consumption of substances “, concluded Biden.

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