The Legalization of Drugs.  A Leap of Faith?

Just hours after announcing his controversial proposal to discuss the legalization of drugs, the president of Guatemala, retired general Otto Perez Molina, was happy and smiling when he received a delegation of senior Colombian police officers in his office on Saturday,February 11.

The next day, the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala rejected his initiative, because of the impact it could have on security in Central America. In Guatemala the question arose whether the general  had realized what a a giant leap of faith he had taken with his surprising suggestion presented to Colombia and Mexico.  But what bothered Washington was received with interest by the rest of the region.

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The president of Honduras, Portifio Lobo, does not believe either that legalizing drugs would be the answer.  ”God forbid (if we legalize drugs).  I believe that what we are doing (fighting drug trafficking) has not had any benefit.  Drugs continue passing through our countries…but the loss in human life and violence has been terrible.  The consumer there (in the USA) is the only one who would reduce the use of drugs.”

In separate interviews with “El Universal” people who research this issue say that the option to decriminalize drug trafficking is at the least complicated.

“It is a novel proposal that should be analyzed carefully by all the Central American governments.  But I am not sure if the region has the right conditions to advance at this moment in that direction”, said a Nicaraguan researcher Elvira Cuadre, Research Coordinator at the Center of Communications.

Editors Note:  Because of rapidly changing developments in the War on Drugs we are going to excerpt for you here the debate as it is unfolding in Latin America.  We do this by translating portions of the Spanish language press for you.  Today we start with an article in the Mexican Newspaper “El Universal”.

Source :  http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/internacional/76641.html

Dateline:  21 February