US Finds Venezuela, Bolivia "Failed Demonstrably" to Counter Drug Trafficking

US Finds Venezuela, Bolivia "Failed Demonstrably" to Counter Drug
Trafficking
By Victoria Nuland
US Department of State

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Under the Foreign Relations Authorization Act (FAA),
the President is required each year to notify Congress of those
countries he determines to be major illicit drug-producing countries or
major drug-transit countries that "significantly affect the United
States." A country's presence on the list does not necessarily reflect
its counternarcotics efforts or its level of cooperation on illegal drug
control with the United States. The designation can reflect a
combination of geographic, commercial, and economic factors that allow
drugs to be produced and/or trafficked through a country.

When a country on the list does not fulfill its obligations under
international counternarcotics agreements and conventions, the President
determines that the country has "failed demonstrably" to meet its
counterdrug obligations. Such a designation can lead to sanctions.
However, the President may also execute a waiver when he determines
there is a vital national interest in continuing U.S. assistance. Even
without such a waiver, humanitarian assistance and counternarcotics
assistance may continue.

This year the President has identified 22 countries as major
drug-producing or drug-transit countries: Afghanistan, the Bahamas,
Belize, Bolivia, Burma, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic,
Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Laos,
Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. Belize and El
Salvador are new to the list this year.

Of these 22, the President has determined that three countries, Bolivia,
Burma, and Venezuela, "failed demonstrably" during the last 12 months to
make sufficient or meaningful efforts to adhere to the obligations they
have undertaken under international counternarcotics agreements. In the
cases of Bolivia and Venezuela, the President has waived possible
sanctions under U.S. law, so that the United States may continue to
support specific programs to benefit the Bolivian and Venezuelan people.

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