Costa Rica: Bolivia, Venezuela and Burma on U. S. Anti-Drug Blacklist

Bolivia, Venezuela and Burma on U. S. Anti-Drug Blacklist


Special to A.M. Costa Rica


Three countries, Bolivia, Burma, and Venezuela, have failed to adhere to international counternarcotic pacts and take anti-drug measures, according to the White House.

Under the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, the president is required to notify Congress of those countries he determines to be major illicit drug-producing countries or major drug-transit countries. A country’s presence on the list does not necessarily reflect its counternarcotics efforts nor does it reflect its cooperation with the United States, said the State Department. The designation can reflect a combination of geographic, commercial, and economic factors that allow drugs to be produced and/or trafficked through a country despite its own best efforts, the department said.

When a country does not live up to its obligations under international counternarcotics agreements and conventions, the president determines that the country has “failed demonstrably.” Such a designation can lead to sanctions, according to the law. However, the president may also execute a waiver should he determine that continuing U.S. assistance is in the national interest of the United States. Even without such a waiver, humanitarian assistance and
counternarcotics assistance may continue.

This year Barack Obama has identified the following countries as major drug-transit or drug-producing countries: Afghanistan, the Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela.

Of these 20, the president has determined that only Bolivia, Burma, and Venezuela, “failed demonstrably” during the last 12 months to adhere to international counternarcotic agreements and take counternarcotic measures set forth in U.S. law, said the State Department. In the cases of Bolivia and Venezuela, the president has issued a national interest waiver so that the United States may continue to support specific programs.

In Venezuela, funds will continue to support civil society programs and small community development programs, the State Department said.

In Bolivia, the waiver will permit continued support for agricultural development, exchange programs, small enterprise development, and police training programs among others, the State Department said.