The President of the United States, Joe Biden, included for the fiscal year of 2023 the Dominican Republic among the main transit countries for drugs which produce illicit substances.
According to the presidential statement issued last Wednesday, the country shares the list with Afghanistan, Bahamas, Belize, Burma, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico. , Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Peru and Venezuela.
The decree issued by the White House highlights that the presence of a country on said list is not “a reflection of the efforts made by its government against drugs nor of the level of cooperation with the United States”, but of a “a combination of geographic, commercial and economic factors”.
These factors allow, continues the explanation, that there is transit or production of drugseven if the local government has implemented “rigorous and diligent measures” to control narcotics and proper law enforcement.
Regarding the designation of Afghanistan, Burma, Bolivia and Venezuela, it indicates that it is due to “demonstrable” non-compliance with the obligations assumed in international agreements against drug trafficking. drugswhich is why Biden determined that the programs in these countries are “vital to the national interests of the United States.”
This, according to the statement, is part of the actions against the “epidemic” of drug addiction, which is one of the “top priorities” of the Biden government and in 2021 caused the death of 108,000 people by overdose.
“Through the National Strategy for the Control of drugs By 2022, my administration will focus on the root drivers of the epidemic, including untreated addictions and drug trafficking, and will redouble efforts to strengthen foreign partnerships to tackle drug production and trafficking. drugsin particular to meet the challenge posed by drugs synthetics for everyone,” Biden says in the statement released by the White House.
For the 2023 budget, the US government requests 24,000 million dollars, which will be allocated to respond to the needs of the population most exposed to overdoses and disorders due to the use of this type of substance, as well as to reduce the supply of drugs from abroad.
“The United States is determined to work with the countries of the Western Hemisphere, as neighbors and partners, to address our shared challenges in the production, trafficking and consumption of drugsand counter the harmful impact of narcotics-related corruption,” the statement states.
The US seeks to cooperate with China, India and other countries, which it claims are the countries that provide the chemicals to produce synthetic drugs, which it calls “dangerous” and blames for “many of the deaths” from overdoses in the North American country.
Likewise, the US government recognized the efforts of Mexico, Afghanistan and Bolivia to act against the proliferation of drugs synthetic and regulate and control the production of those of plant origin, but you call on them to take more effective measures, such as arresting the key actors of organized crime, in the case of Mexico.