Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Saturday (September 9) proposed an alliance between Latin American countries to bring a unified voice to the fight against drug trafficking. According to a report by the news agency Reuters, President Petro closed the Latin America and Caribbean Conference on Drugs by saying that over five decades of a failed war on drugs resulted in immeasurable bloodshed and pain across Latin America.
“It is time to rebuild hope and not repeat the bloody and ferocious wars, the ill-named ‘war on drugs’, viewing drugs as a military problem and not as a health problem for society,” Petro said during the press conference. In a joint statement, the countries participating in the conference said the demand for illicit drugs must be reduced by educating the public and combating inequality, poverty, lack of opportunities, and violence.
Anti-drug strategy should be reconsidered: Petro
The Colombian president also pushed for the reconsideration of an anti-drug strategy and urged for the need for a unified voice “that defends our society, our future and our history and stops repeating a failed discourse.”
Colombia, which saw an unprecedented surge in violence years ago from drug trafficking during Pablo Escobar’s reign, still faces persistent violence from current drug cartels with growing firepower and economic might.
In December last year, the Colombian government agreed on a ceasefire with the country’s main drug cartel Gulf Clan as part of President Petro’s plan for total peace in the country.
However, the ceasefire was suspended in March with Petro accusing the Gulf Clan of “sowing anxiety and terror.” The president ordered security forces to reactivate their military operations against the cartel.
Mexico urges Latin America to support US’ fight against Fentanyl
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who was a part of Saturday’s conference, said that Latin American countries needed to support the United States in its fight against Fentanyl.
“More than a pandemic, we must participate in the fight against fentanyl use in the United States. What they are facing is a pandemic, it is not just a quantitative issue. 100,000 young people lose their lives every year due to fentanyl use. To turn our back and say ‘We don’t care.’ We have to deal with that problem,” President Obrador said.
