|
Colombian
Foreign
Minister:
"If
US
Doesn't
Certify
Us,
There
Will
be
a
Political
Earthquake"
1/15/98
Colombian foreign minister Maria Emma Mejia said this week that the
United States had better certify her nation as an ally in the Drug War,
or else it will face an anti-American backlash which would make itself
felt during Colombia's upcoming presidential elections. "Any certification
decision that isn't positive for Colombia is going to cause an internal
political earthquake... and cause more opposition to the United States,"
she said.
The controversial certification process, under which the United States
declares that a nation is either sufficiently or insufficiently cooperative
in the international Drug War, has far-reaching implications for source
and transshipment countries. Under US law, countries which are de-certified
face an end to US foreign aid and an automatic "no" vote by the
US on loans from the World Bank. The deadline for President Clinton to
make such decisions is March 1.
General Rosso Jose Serrano, commander of Colombia's National Police,
told Colombia's El Tiempo newspaper, "I hope that the international
community, particularly the united States, the world's principal drug consuming
country, recognizes the efforts we have made." Those efforts include
the passage of a long-awaited bill allowing the extradition of Colombian
citizens to be tried in foreign courts. The US administration expressed
disappointment with the bill, however, as it was not made retroactive,
meaning that cartel leaders currently jailed in that country will likely
never be brought to trial in the US, and that their enormous assets will
never be subject to forfeiture by the US treasury.
-- END --
|
Issue #25, 1/15/98
Vasconcellos Calls for Medical Marijuana Access in Face of Federal Action Against Clubs | Defense Fund Established for Buyers' Club Defendants | Washington State Bill Authorizing Medical Marijuana to be Considered: Your responses needed! | Pentagon Proposes Ending Military Border Patrols | President Clinton Signs Directive: Authorizes $200 Million to try to Reduce Drugs Use... in Prisons | EU Parliament Delays Vote on Drug Commission Report | Colombian Foreign Minister: "If US Doesn't Certify Us, There Will be a Political Earthquake" | British Medical Journal, Lancet, Calls on US to Act on Needle Exchange | New Australian Harm Reduction-Based Drug-Ed Program Sends Kids to Teach Kids | Nuclear Cruiser USS California Deployed in Drug War | Harm Reduction Workshop in Boston
|
This issue -- main page
This issue -- single-file printer version
Drug War Chronicle -- main page
Chronicle archives
|
PERMISSION to reprint or
redistribute any or all of the contents of Drug War Chronicle (formerly The Week Online with DRCNet is hereby
granted. We ask that any use of these materials include proper credit and,
where appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If your
publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks
payable to the organization. If your publication does not pay for
materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all cases, we
request notification for our records, including physical copies where
material has appeared in print. Contact: StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network,
P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202)
293-8344 (fax), e-mail [email protected]. Thank
you.
Articles of a purely
educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of the DRCNet
Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
|
