U.S. President, George W. Bush, has named four Caribbean nations as major drug transit countries.
Bush, in the release of the `Major Drug Transit Or Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries For Fiscal Year 2009,` report, again identified The Bahamas, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica in the Caribbean as the key transit points for narcotics into the U.S.
David T. Johnson, Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, told the media yesterday that the presence of a country on the the Majors’ List signifies that by the President has determined that the country has `failed demonstrably` in its narcotics fight.
But Bush insisted that appearing on the list does not necessarily mean governments are not trying to stem the flow of illegal drugs or are not cooperating with Washington.
Meanwhile, the President lashed out at Bolivia and Venezuela, which have been at odds with Washington. Bolivia and Venezuela made the U.S. list released Tuesday with Bush stating that the two nations and Burma `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.
`The Venezuelan Government’s continued inaction against a growing drug trafficking problem within and through its borders is a matter of increasing concern to the United States,` stated President Bush. `Despite Venezuelan assurances that seizures have increased, the amount of drugs bound for the United States and Europe continues to grow.`
This is the first year that Bolivia was added to the `majors` list. The U.S. yesterday charged that `President Morales continues to support the expansion of illicit coca leaf production, despite the fact that current legal cultivation far exceeds the demand for legal traditional consumption and exceeds the area permitted under Bolivian law.`
