Latin American leaders are pushing to make a Cartagena summit a moment that sparks the world to redefine its approach to drugs. Stephen Harper, like U.S. President Barack Obama, has vowed to stand in the way. Make no mistake, as presidents from Colombia to Mexico flirt with the idea of legalizing or decriminalizing drugs, the notion is a challenge aimed at the nations to the north, the United States and Canada, the big consumer markets for the smuggled drugs. At the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia, Mr. Harper will tell them they've got it all wrong. [continues 1147 words]
Latin America Leaders Differ on Decriminalization, Cuba Prime Minister Stephen Harper is flying to a weekend summit in Colombia where his hard line on drugs will put him at odds with some Latin American leaders who are calling for a debate over whether drug use should be decriminalized. Harper's position on Cuba also could run afoul of a possible consensus by countries in central and South America. Harper is attending the Summit of the Americas, a conference of leaders from 34 nations that is held every three years. The talks this year will include such issues as trade expansion, and Harper will meet with senior business executives from Canada and elsewhere who are attending the summit to discuss investment in the Western Hemisphere. [continues 340 words]
OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper is flying to a weekend summit in Colombia where his hard line on drugs will put him at odds with some Latin American leaders who are calling for a debate over whether drug use should be decriminalized. Harper's position on Cuba also could run afoul of a possible consensus by countries in central and South America. Harper is attending the Summit of the Americas, a conference of leaders from 34 nations that is held every three years. [continues 295 words]
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is flying to a weekend summit in Colombia where his hard line on drugs will put him at odds with some Latin American leaders who are calling for a debate over whether drug use should be decriminalized. Harper's position on Cuba also could run afoul of a possible consensus by countries in central and South America. Harper is attending the Summit of the Americas, a conference of leaders from 34 countries that is held every three years. The talks this year will include such issues as trade expansion, and Harper will meet with senior business executives from Canada and elsewhere who are attending the summit to discuss investment in the Americas. [continues 362 words]
Cuba Policy May Also Rile Some OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper is flying to a weekend summit in Colombia where his hard line on drugs will put him at odds with some Latin American leaders who are calling for debate over whether drug use should be decriminalized. Harper's position on Cuba also could run afoul of a possible consensus by countries in central and South America. Harper is attending the Summit of the Americas, a conference of leaders from 34 nations held every three years. [continues 397 words]
Some Leaders at the Summit of the Americas May Urge Decriminalization, a Move That the President Opposes. CARTAGENA, Colombia - President Obama will highlight trade and business opportunities in Latin America at a regional summit in Colombia this weekend, but other leaders may upstage him by pushing to legalize marijuana and other illicit drugs in a bid to stem rampant trafficking. Obama, who opposes decriminalization, is expected to face a rocky reception in this Caribbean resort city, which otherwise forms a friendly backdrop for a U.S. president courting Latino voters in an election year. But the American demand for illegal drugs has caused fierce bloodshed, plus political and economic turmoil, across much of the region. [continues 697 words]
BOGOTA -- As the hemisphere's leaders gather in Colombia this week for the VI Summit of the Americas, their on-camera discussions will be dominated by perennial convention topics: poverty, cooperation, the need for roads. But behind closed doors, they are expected to tackle a more contentious issue: the narcotics trade. The 40-year-old war on drugs has cost billions in treasure and countless lives, but has produced mixed results. Drug abuse rates in the United States have been virtually unchanged over the last decade, as dips in cocaine use have been offset by rising consumption of marijuana, heroin and methamphetamines. The United States has the highest overdose rates in the world - almost four times higher than Europe, according to the United Nation's 2011 World Drug Report. [continues 1223 words]
At Hemispheric Summit, Obama Will Hear Calls for Broad Changes in Tactics BOGOTA, Colombia - When President Obama arrives in Colombia for a hemispheric summit this weekend, he will hear Latin American leaders say that the U.S.-orchestrated war on drugs, which criminalizes drug use and employs military tactics to fight gangs, is failing and that broad changes need to be considered. Latin American leaders say they have not developed an alternative model to the approach favored by successive American administrations since Richard Nixon was in office. But the Colombian government says a range of options - including decriminalizing possession of drugs, legalizing marijuana use and regulating markets - will be debated at the Summit of the Americas in the coastal city of Cartagena. [continues 1025 words]
CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA - President Barack Obama will highlight trade and business opportunities in Latin America at a regional summit in Colombia this weekend, but other leaders could upstage him by pushing to legalize marijuana and other illicit drugs in a bid to stem rampant trafficking. Obama, who opposes decriminalization, is expected to face a rocky reception in this Caribbean resort city, which otherwise forms a friendly backdrop for a U.S. president courting Latino voters in an election year. But the American demand for illegal drugs has caused fierce bloodshed, plus political and economic turmoil, across much of the region. [continues 310 words]
President Santos Moves To Build On Security Gains Of His Predecessor To Address Root Cause Of Conflict: Land Ownership BOGOTA - President Juan Manuel Santos has surprised friends and foes alike during his first year in office by distancing himself from his onetime boss, former President Alvaro Uribe, and setting an ambitious agenda to try to repair the damages from a long-running civil war. With approval ratings at over 75% and a solid majority in congress, Mr. Santos has secured a package of groundbreaking laws, including one to return nearly 16 million acres of land-equal to West Virginia-taken from peasants during the war. [continues 693 words]
BOGOTA, Colombia-Mexico's biggest cartels are expanding their operations throughout Central and South America, gaining power as they diversify and consolidate in new regions but also exposing themselves to new challenges, according to top law-enforcement officials. Cartels like the Sinaloa gang and the Zetas are sending more operatives to South America than ever before, seeking to fill the void left by the demise in recent years of powerful Colombian drug organizations. "There are more Mexican drug-cartel emissaries in South America than in any other time in the history of Mexican cartels and drug operations," said Jay Bergman, Andean regional director for the Drug Enforcement Administration, in an interview this week. [continues 530 words]
BOGOTA-The U.S. and its ideological foe Venezuela are in a bitter fight over the extradition of Walid "The Turk" Makled, an alleged cocaine kingpin currently jailed in Colombia. And Venezuela appears to have the upper hand. Mr. Makled, arrested late last year on a U.S. warrant in Colombia, is alleged to be one of the world's most important, yet little known, drug lords. He is a "king among kingpins," says Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. At the height of his power, Mr. Makled, a Venezuelan citizen of Syrian descent, smuggled 10 tons of cocaine a month into the U.S. from Venezuela, according to U.S. officials. He controlled Venezuela's most important port and allegedly added to his transport empire by, in effect, stealing an entire airline, according to a lawsuit in Venezuela filed by the airline's former owner. [continues 1834 words]
How Changes in Technology Are Making It Harder to Nab the Bad Guys In 2010, the U.S. Coast Guard seized just over 90 tons of cocaine destined for U.S. shores, a haul valued at more than USD $3.5 billion. However, in the multibillion-a-year U.S. cocaine industry, the Coast Guard's interdiction rate accounts for only 26 per cent of the estimated 350 tons of cocaine arriving in the U.S. each year; the sale of which supports both criminal and terrorist groups in Latin America and abroad. [continues 1339 words]