British Government acknowledges the effectiveness of drug policy in Venezuela

Caracas, 8 October 2009 ABN .- The British Government has acknowledged the effectiveness of anti-drug policies being implemented by Venezuelan authorities, particularly those relating to supply reduction, checks at ports and airports, seizures of illegal drugs and destruction of clandestine laboratories along the border with Colombia.

Chris Bryant, British Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, made this statement yesterday after formally signing a memorandum of understanding with Venezuela, which focuses on the exchange of intelligence information in real time; execution of joint operations, such as the interception of boats and capture of drug traffickers, in addition to combating the trafficking of synthetic drugs into Europe, he said.

"The drug problem cannot be addressed in isolation.First, there is a consumer demand for illegal drugs in Europe, which is a huge part of the problem. On the other hand, the largest producers of cocaine: Colombia, Peru and to some extent Bolivia, are located in Latin America. Venezuela is not a producer, but its territory is used by drug traffickers to get much of that cocaine into Europe. That's why our governments have to cooperate. This is an international issue.”

He added: “Venezuela has made progress in various areas of the fight against drug trafficking. To name a few: Venezuela has intensified checks at ports and airports; it has widely promoted international cooperation to intercept vessels; it has successfully conducted several operations, such as the destruction of clandestine laboratories along the border with Colombia and monitoring of illegal flights into western Africa. Therefore, I am absolutely sure that an agreement between our countries will be very helpful”.

The president of the Venezuelan National Anti-Drug Office (ONA), Colonel Néstor Reverol Torres, said that Venezuela and the United Kingdom had already signed agreements of this kind before: "The memorandum that we are signing today is an improved document with added features and approaches”, said Reverol Torres.

Regarding allegations made by the United States, according to which Venezuela "does not cooperate sufficiently in the international fight against drugs", Reverol said that Venezuela is always prepared to establish such agreements to strengthen cooperation, "provided that they respect three fundamental principles: Appropriate wording of the signed document, the integrity of our national sovereignty and the right of peoples to self-determination ".

Reverol Torres added that the Venezuelan government has signed more than 50 legal instruments with 40 countries and that soon this number will increase because Venezuela has recently begun negotiations with Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau and Ecuador, he stated.

"We had already signed various cooperation agreements with Ecuador in terms of drug trafficking, but the recent visit to Venezuela of Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa was used to draw up a new agreement, which establishes a joint committee and an action plan aimed at exchanging experiences and information and creates a joint command centre of coordination between Venezuela and Ecuador.”

Reverol Torres reported that drug seizures in Venezuela have reached more than 47 tones (47 thousand kilos) so far this year, and about 5 thousand people have been charged with crimes relating to trafficking illicit substances.