The United States has designated Venezuela as a transit and drug-producing country

The government of United States published this Wednesday the list of main countries it works like transit for drug trafficking, as well as the main illicit drug producers. Among them stands out Venezuela, where the regime of Nicolas maduro in recent years increased its collaboration with organized crime.

“Design a Bolivia and Venezuela as countries that have not made substantial efforts in the past 12 months to comply with their obligations under international drug control agreements ”, President Joe Biden said in a statement to the State Department.

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

In this sense, Biden urged the government of Luis Arce, political boss of Evo Morales, one of dictator Maduro’s main allies, “to take further steps to protect the country’s licit coca markets from exploitation. crime and reduce the illicit cultivation of coca. which continues to exceed legal limits under domestic laws for medicinal and traditional use ”.

The United States has also pledged to work with countries in the Western Hemisphere, such as Colombia and Mexico, “to address the challenges we share in drug trafficking and consumption.”

“My administration will seek to expand cooperation with key partners, such as Mexico and Colombia, to shape a collective and comprehensive response and expand efforts to combat the production and trafficking of dangerous synthetic drugs which are responsible for many of our overdose deaths, especially fentanyl, fentanyl analogues and methamphetamine ”Biden pointed out.

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

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

The list of transit and drug production countries is completed 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 countries are included in the list is the combination of geographic, commercial and economic factors that allow the transit or production of drugs,” said the text signed by Biden.

The president said that the United States is currently experiencing an “epidemic of drug addiction and overdose,” which is why it is one of the country’s top public health priorities. “Tackling this epidemic will require both new domestic investments and increased cooperation with foreign partners to target illicit drug suppliers and the criminal organizations that profit from them.”

In this regard, he recalled that from the Rescue law promoted by his government, nearly four billion dollars are committed “to support behavioral health and substance use disorders programs”.

“My administration’s budget request for fiscal year 2022 details $ 10.7 billion to support evidence-based research, prevention, treatment, harm reduction and recovery support services, with investments specific to meet the needs of populations most at risk of overdose and substance use disorders. , ”Biden concluded.

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