For Fiscal Year 2024, US President Joseph Biden has designated several Caribbean countries as major drug transit or illicit drug-producing countries.
Biden cited The Bahamas, Belize, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica as important transit or illicit drug-producing countries in a White House memorandum on Friday.
Afghanistan, Bolivia, Burma, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela are among the other countries named.
“A country’s presence on the foregoing list is not necessarily a reflection of its government’s counterdrug efforts or level of cooperation with the United States,” Biden explained.
“In accordance with the statutory definitions of a major drug transit or major illicit drug producing country set forth in sections 481(e)(2) and 481(e)(5) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended (Public Law 87-195) (FAA), countries are placed on the list due to a combination of geographic, commercial, and economic factors that allow drugs to be transited or produced, even if a government has engaged in robust and diligent narcotics control and law enforcement.”
The James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (Public Law 117-263) changed the definition of major drug source countries to include source countries of precursor chemicals used to make illicit drugs that have a significant impact on the United States, according to the US President.
He described preventing precursor chemicals from being diverted to the production of illicit drugs as “a particularly difficult challenge, including for the United States and other countries with strict regulatory regimes to prevent diversion.”
Because of this shift in policy, the PRC has been identified as a major source country, according to Biden.
“The United States strongly urges the PRC and other chemical source countries to tighten chemical supply chains and prevent diversion,” he stated.
Biden designated Bolivia, Burma, and Venezuela as “having failed demonstrably during the previous 12 months to both adhere to their obligations under international counternarcotics agreements and to take the measures required by section 489(a)(1) of the FAA.”
He stated that this determination includes explanations for the classifications of Bolivia, Burma, and Venezuela, as required by FRAA section 706(2)(B).
According to Section 706(3)(A) of the FRAA, Biden has determined that US programs supporting Bolivia, Burma, and Venezuela are “vital to the national interests of the United States.”
“The vast majority of illicit drugs causing the most damage in the United States originate beyond our borders,” he said, adding that “our most effective means of reducing the availability of these drugs is to expand and improve our cooperation with international partners.”
Biden stated that the US will continue to support continuing efforts in South America to reduce coca cultivation and cocaine manufacturing, enhance access to justice, and promote alternative livelihoods with critical allies.
He stated that Colombia has always been a strong partner in the fight against the drug trafficking.
Nonetheless, he stated that “illicit coca cultivation and cocaine production remain at historically high levels,” asking the Colombian government to prioritize efforts to increase its presence in coca-producing regions and make long-term progress against criminal organizations.
In Bolivia, Biden urged the government to take additional steps to protect the country’s licit coca markets from criminal exploitation, reduce illicit coca cultivation that exceeds legal limits under Bolivian domestic laws for medical and traditional use, and “continue to expand cooperation with international partners to disrupt transnational criminal networks.”
