US flag with a marijuana leaf silhouette over it and a caption that reads: "Stay High." File photo.
Caracas, September 17, 2022 (OrinocoTribune.com)—The United States is trying to silence the achievements of Venezuela in the fight against drug trafficking, the Venezuelan minister for Foreign Affairs, Carlos Faría, decried this Saturday, September 17.
The White House “identified” in a memorandum published on Thursday, September 15, almost two dozen countries as “major drug transit and major illicit drugs producing countries,” which include Venezuela, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Colombia, among other countries mostly from Latin America. In the memorandum Afghanistan, Bolivia, Burma, and Venezuela are labeled as “having failed demonstrably to make substantial efforts… to adhere to their obligations under international counternarcotics agreements.”
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In reaction, Faría wrote in a Twitter post, “It is outrageous to see how from the country with the highest drug consumption in the world, its rulers silence the achievements of the government of President Nicolás Maduro in the fight against drug trafficking.”
The minister added that in 2021 alone, Venezuela seized and confiscated 51 tons of illicit drugs. He also attached an official statement condemning the latest US interventionist move against Venezuela.
Es indignante ver cómo desde el país con más consumo de drogas en el mundo, sus gobernantes silencian los logros del gobierno del Pdte. @NicolasMaduro en materia de lucha contra el narcotráfico.
En el 2021 logramos la incautación y decomiso de 51 toneladas de sustancias ilícitas. https://t.co/FKcvRR0fko— Carlos Faria (@Fariacrt) September 17, 2022
The statement highlights that since the expulsion of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in 2005, Venezuela has achieved record seizures of drugs.
The text also condemns the US government’s list as an “infamous publication” that “disregards the faithful fulfillment of the international commitments of the Venezuelan government, whose tenacity to address the constant fight against illicit drug trafficking has been conducted under the foundations of the United Nations and in total aversion to unilateral practices of politicized evaluations.”
Below is presented the unofficial translation of the statement issued by the Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Ministry:
Venezuela rejects inconsistent US memorandum on drug-producing countries
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela strongly rejects the inconsistent Memorandum of Joseph Biden’s administration, of an interfering nature and lacking legality, on “major drug transit and major illicit drugs producing countries for the fiscal year 2023,” published on September 15, 2022.
That infamous publication does not recognize the faithful fulfillment of the international commitments by the Venezuelan government, whose tenacity to address the constant fight against illicit drug trafficking has been conducted under the foundations of the United Nations and in total aversion to unilateral practices of politicized evaluations.
It is evident that since the expulsion of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) from Venezuela, the Venezuelan government has achieved, with sovereign policies, the largest seizure and confiscation in history and has waged a merciless war against drug traffickers and criminal groups operating outside the law, thus registering in 2021, the record for the seizure of 51 tons of drugs in more than 5,000 procedures.
The White House, once again, is trying to issue unfounded judgments that justify its annual expenses to supposedly address the great public health problem that drug consumption represents in the United States, which, according to the 2022 Report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), claimed around 107,000 lives in 2021.
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela condemns the role of the US administration in pretending to be the global police and persisting in the imposition of extraterritorial policies.
The Venezuelan government reiterates its complete and unconditional commitment to the transparent and sincere fight against drug trafficking, as well as in addressing the impartial evaluation under multilateral mechanisms, in order to maintain and preserve the sovereignty of Venezuela.
Caracas, September 16, 2022
Like in no other country, the Venezuelan legal framework has been adjusted to allow the Bolivarian National Armed Force (FANB) to intercept and destroy drug trafficking aircraft since 2012. Just in 2022, 28 narco-jets have been neutralized and destroyed by Venezuelan Military Aviation, taking the total to 306 since the launch of the program 10 years ago.
In recent weeks the Attorney General of Venezuela announced the launch of a national campaign to prevent and educate about drug consumption and trafficking in order to counteract a trend coming from countries of the Global North that are trying to normalize drug consumption. National campaigns like this are nowhere to be seen in the United States besides some isolated initiatives by some NGOs.
Orinoco Tribune special by staff
OT/JRE/SC
