Politics John Walters is the Director of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). As the US drug czar, he coordinates all aspects of Federal drug control programs and spending. Disappointed for his failure to meet with Venezuelan authorities, the official warned against increasing drug traffic in Venezuela.

What steps have you taken to meet with President Chávez or any Venezuelan anti-drug authority?

We have tried to make contact with Venezuelan officials for years to restart anti-drug cooperation.  When the Venezuelan President and his foreign minister made public comments recently stating that they want to cooperate on drugs, we took that as a positive sign and sought to follow up.  Unfortunately, the Venezuelan government has not granted us meetings and/or approved our visa requests to travel to meet with either the President or any other appropriate official.

It is unfortunate that Venezuelan officials are not interested in meeting with us.  I have critical documents that we have wanted to give Venezuelan officials that show the explosion in drug trafficking taking place through that nation and a list of things the Venezuelan government can do to cooperate.

It is important to remember that in the end, this is not about meetings. This is about steps we can take cooperatively now to stop drug trafficking Venezuela has an air force, it has radar and it has a trained military.  These forces can stop contraband air flights now, and that is what they need to do. We do not need to have a meeting for that to take place.

If you could meet with any Venezuelan anti-drug authority or President Chávez, what would you tell them?

I would explain how drugs are a menace to all civilized societies.  They engender violence, corruption and sap the spirit of our youth.  They are a recognized world-wide problem that has warranted a separate U.N. office and U.N. mandates to coordinate international efforts against them.  No country or political system is immune from this threat; that is why they all cooperate in attacking this scourge.  Polls of the Venezuelan public show that crime and insecurity are their number one concern, and there is no doubt the drug trafficking contributes to the damage being done to Venezuelan society.

The President of Venezuela alleges that the United States is playing politics with the drug issue.  We are not.  If he wants to do something concrete to get a grip on the threat, here are some suggestions that are easy to measure and would be immediately visible. First: We would like to see the Venezuelan President direct the leadership of his government - in writing - to facilitate cooperation with the U.S and approve the pending visa applications of DEA agents. Second: The FARC are the world's leading cocaine-producing organization.  The Venezuelan government should announce that the FARC are not welcome in Venezuela and call for the arrest and deportation of all FARC in Venezuela. Third: The Government of Venezuela should re-establish vetted anti-drug units that can work with DEA. Fourth: Venezuela should re-orient the Venezuelan Superintendent of Banks' Financial Intelligence Unit and facilitate financial information sharing. Fifth: Venezuela should reestablish a military anti-drug liaison officer on assignment to the United States at the Joint Interagency Task Force of the Southern Command, with the ability to direct cooperation with units inside of Venezuela. Finally: The Venezuelans should put to use a U.S.-funded cargo inspection center that has sat - unused - in Puerto Cabello (Venezuela's largest port) for the physical inspection of suspicious cargo.

Chávez looks mistrustful due to the prior experience with DEA in Venezuela. He claims that some agents were spying and some were not accountable to Venezuelan authorities. In addition, he says that even in the absence of the US cooperation the number of drug seizures has grown. What is your opinion?

First of all, they have decreased since the end of bilateral counternarcotics cooperation.   Venezuela's own National Antinarcotics Office (ONA) indicates that 2005 was the peak year of cocaine seizures in Venezuela with 58.435 metric tons.  Since then, despite what we believe is an enormous increase in the amount of cocaine passing through, seizures have dropped steadily: 38.938 metric tons in 2006 and 31.79 metric tons in 2007.

As to being trustworthy, it is remarkable to me that in the 62 countries worldwide where DEA cooperates with national law enforcement, only in Venezuela has the President decided that DEA agents were spying. The DEA does not engage in any activity but counternarcotics.

I would also tell the President on the issue of trust, that he ought to put in place some strong measures to remove temptation from his own law enforcement authorities.  We believe, on good evidence, that the quantity of drugs transiting Venezuela is up 500% since 2002.  Yet in the last three years seizures have fallen.  I don't believe that the police and military have become less efficient or that the criminals have gotten any smarter, but I fear that some in positions of authority may have become corrupt.  Seized drugs that are re-sold to criminals are just as valuable as smuggled drugs.  So why put temptation in front of the police and the military?

Currently, the Venezuelan government forbids us from observing the destruction of seized narcotics.  So we have no idea if they are really destroyed.  The President of Venezuela could easily allow international monitors to take random samples of seized narcotics, and witness the destruction of seized loads.  If he does not trust the DEA, another internationally respected organization could perform the function.  It would offer the credibility that honest law enforcement and police officers deserve.

Do you think that Venezuela and the United States could reach an agreement whereby the Venezuelan authorities' sovereignty could be observed, without the need to deploy US agents in Venezuelan territory?

A country's sovereignty is always observed by DEA - just ask any of the other 62 countries in the world in which they operate.  I can't imagine that Great Britain or Italy would agree to let DEA operate inside their country if they were set on violating their sovereignty.  Secondly, there are numerous diplomatic instruments available to countries that want to work with each other that could be crafted, such as, a Memorandum of Understanding, or a Letter of Agreement.

Law enforcement cooperation without actual presence in the other country is a very awkward sort of cooperation.  I'm not sure that it would add a great deal to the ability of either country to disrupt rich and powerful drug trafficking organizations or to expose the people who assist them.

What is the status of illicit drug traffic in Venezuela? According to the Venezuelan government, there has been a significant increase of seizures, which apparently shows that anti-drug efforts are yielding better results.

Cocaine flow through Venezuela is exploding.  It has grown from 57 metric tons in 2004 to 255 metric tons in 2007.  Seizures peaked in 2005 and have been dropping, even when seizures of marijuana, which probably don't go to global markets, are included to pump up the figures.

What, in your view, are the reasons for the increasing drug traffic through Venezuela?

There are three principle reasons.  First, Venezuela's support of the FARC encouraged them to traffic cocaine through Venezuela and develop routes and methods to facilitate the trade.  This is especially true now that Colombia is putting even more pressure on the FARC and greatly complicating their production, distribution, and transportation system out of the country.  Venezuela has become the path of least resistance.  Now that President Chavez has advised the FARC to lay down their arms, that relationship may have changed.

Second, cocaine moving through Venezuela is attracting the attention of international, and very wealthy, drug trafficking organizations.  Their money and an atmosphere of tolerance for the FARC, is leading to institutional corruption and the shipment of ever larger amounts through Venezuela.

Finally, the Venezuelan government's denial and lack of will to take tough, even unpleasant actions against drugs and corruption is making the problem larger.  The President of Venezuela  may be unable to conceive of the drug threat in any but political terms or as part of a vast conspiracy underwritten by the United States.   He refuses to cooperate with us, but he also refuses to take serious counter-drug action on his own.  That refusal is to the great detriment of Venezuela's international reputation and at high cost to the Venezuelan people.

Dou you know of any signs of corruption among the officials involved in anti-drug efforts in Venezuela? Is that a reason for the growing drug traffic?

Unfortunately, we have seen signs of corruption.  You are probably aware of several officials who have been denied visas to the U.S. in the past.  That has been as a result of their ties to drug trafficking and other corrupt activities.

When traffickers find a weak link in the system they can exploit they do - Venezuela is gaining the reputation among traffickers of being "for sale" and, thus, the preferred destination for traffickers because of the corruption and the impunity that is rampant as other countries in the region crack down on them.

Are there any signs of rising drug production in Venezuela?

It is hard to say because of the lack of cooperation since 2005.  Nevertheless, it stands to reason that as Colombia aggressively attacks the drug industry inside its borders that those operations could easily move to more hospitable areas, such as Venezuela.

Translated by Conchita Delgado
 

Reyes Theis
EL UNIVERSAL