Counternarcotics
The Obama administration's Fiscal Year 2011 foreign aid request, submitted to Congress earlier this week, includes a new counternarcotics and security initiative: the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI). Here is what we know about the CBSI so far:
Every year, the U.S. Department of State submits a report to Congress with its detailed budget request for International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE) assistance.
In 2007, President George W. Bush announced the Mérida Initiative, a 3-year, $1.4 billion program, most of it military and police assistance, to help Mexico and Central America fight organized crime and narcotrafficking. Congress first appropriated funds to the Mérida Initiative in the Fiscal Year 2008 supplemental appropriations bill, and have since appropriated nearly $1.3 billion for the initiative. The U.S. Government Accountability Office, a branch of the U.S.
Yesterday, the White House issued the "Majors List" of narcotics source and transfer countries for 2009. Under the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, the President must submit to Congress an annual report identifying (a) major drug-producing or transit countries and (b) those countries not "cooperating" with U.S. counternarcotics measures and subject to sanctions.
During the last week of August, Ecuador signed a counternarcotics and organized crime agreement with the United States, renewing cooperation between the two countries after it was suspended last February. The new agreement includes the exchange of information between the two governments and training for special police units, which will be carried out by the government of Ecuador and in accordance with its laws, in addition to $7 million in U.S. aid to help combat narcotrafficking and organized crime. The agreement also places emphasis on the prevention of drug consumption.
On Wednesday, Mexican President Felipe Calderón gave his third state of the union address to the National Congress. One of the major topics he touched on was security and the fight against drug cartels. President Calderón pledged to continue his "full frontal attack ...
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimel recently released its annual reports on Coca Cultivation in the Andean Region - namely in Peru, Colombia, and Bolivia.
Over the past month, the United States Southern Command, in collaboration with the Salvadoran military and civil aviation officials, has been evaluating the suitability of using unmanned aircraft, or drones, for counternarcotics operations throughout Latin America.
Last week, the Government of El Salvador extended its agreement with the United States to allow U.S. anti-narcotics aircraft to operate out of the Salvadoran Air Force base at Comalapa for five more years. Since March 2000, the United States has used the Comalapa Air Force base as a Forward Operating Location (FOL) - the same arrangement as the Manta Air Base in Ecuador, which U.S.
Today, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy presented its main findings on the limits and unwanted effects of the 'war on drugs' in Latin America over the past 30 years. The Commission was headed by former Presidents Fernando Henrique Cardoso (Brazil), César Gaviria (Colombia), and Ernesto Zedillo (Mexico) and includes 17 independent members.