US President Joe Biden on Thursday designated Afghanistan, Bolivia, Myanmar and Venezuela as countries that have made “no substantial efforts” in the past 12 months to meet their international obligations to combat drug trafficking.
In a statement released by the State Department, Biden said, however, that US programs to support those countries in the fight against drugs are of vital importance to the country’s national interests.
Biden mentioned that part of a $24.3 billion budget to address addict treatment and recovery includes “significant funds” to reduce the flow of drugs into the US from other countries.
The document also identifies as nations of great transit or production of illegal drugs Afghanistan, the Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Laos , Mexico, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Peru and Venezuela.
It also warns that the presence of a country on that list “is not a reflection of the anti-drug efforts of their governments or their level of cooperation with the United States.”
In that sense, the statement praises and encourages Mexico’s efforts to combat clandestine laboratories and other mechanisms, and to arrest organized crime figures involved in drug trafficking.
In addition, he says he is encouraged by Bolivia’s efforts against drug trafficking in the past year and its cooperation with international partners.
Biden encourages the Bolivian government to take additional steps to protect illicit coca markets from criminal exploitation and reduce coca cultivation that continues to exceed legal limits.
The document emphasizes the ravages of synthetic drugs, such as fentanyl, its analogs and methamphetamines, which were the cause of 108,000 deaths in the United States in 2021 and combating them remains one of the administration’s priorities.
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