US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday that US demand was “part of the problem” fueling Central America’s drug wars and pledged more help in fighting ruthless Mexican cartels.
Visiting here two days after the arrests of two top Guatemalan police chiefs on drug trafficking and murder charges, Clinton and Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom vowed to do more fight the corruption undermining law enforcement.
During a press conference with Colom in Guatemala City, the last stop on a six-country tour of Latin America, the chief US diplomat pledged to work with the Guatemalan president and the other regional leaders gathered here to improve security.
Present were presidents Porfirio Lobo of Honduras, Mauricio Funes of El Salvador, Leonel Fernandez of the Dominican Republic and Oscar Arias of Costa Rica as well as Belize Prime Minister Dean Barrow. Panama sent its foreign minister.
She backed the Central American Regional Security Initiative and similar partnerships in Mexico and the Caribbean.
“We will combat organized crime, transnational gangs and trafficking and together keep the people of Guatamala safe,” she said.
Clinton promised “even closer cooperation for the months and years ahead” as Central America fights rising violence, trafficking and drug use in the region, which is caught between drug wars waged by Mexico and Colombia.
She promised more aid, but gave few specifics.
Under the multi-year Merida initiative launched under former US president George W. Bush, the US gives millions of dollars in aid to Mexico, Guatemala and other countries in the region to help them fight drug trafficking.
Echoing points she made during a high-profile visit to Mexico last year, Clinton said the US shares part of the blame for the region’s trafficking problem and related violence because it has failed to quell US demand.
“We know that we are part of the problem and that’s an admission we have been willing to make this past year,” she said, adding that it compelled US President Barack Obama’s administration to do even more to help Guatemala.
Guatemala has lately become a major hub for South American cocaine and other drugs bound for the US.
Mexican cartels now “strongly dominate” the drug trade in Guatemala, chiefly because of the government’s weakness and lax controls, drug trafficking specialist Claudia Samayoa said.
Clinton said the administration is trying to stem demand through different approaches, including doing more to educate people about the dangers of drugs and offering addicts treatment rather than prosecuting them.
Drug traffickers have also infiltrated Guatemala’s armed forces, with recently stolen large caches of military weapons turning up in criminal hands, Samayoa said.
Following the arrests of the police chiefs, Colom said his government was “ready to do everything necessary” to fight corruption.
“I am happy that we are cleaning up and doing things properly with regard to legislation,” he said, expressing hopes for a “common front” with his counterparts in the region.
Clinton stopped short of publicly reiterating calls she made Thursday in Costa Rica for all Latin American countries to recognize the post-coup government in Honduras.
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