Venezuela questions US 'War on Drugs'

News on the 'Drug War' from a non-western perspective.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration operation in 2005 US Department of Justice photo

(TEHRAN) - Venezuela wants to send a mission to the US to see how well it fights drug trafficking, five days after the US criticized the country's war on drugs.

The request was made by Attorney General, Luisa Ortega Diaz, to four visiting members of the US Congress' Government Accountability Office (GAO) earlier this week, her office said in a statement.

US-Venezuelan relations hit rock bottom in September after both countries expelled each others' ambassadors.

Venezuela in 2005 ended a bilateral anti-drug trafficking agreement and expelled Drug Enforcement Administration agents it accused of spying.

Also, in November 2008, Bolivian President, Evo Morales said that the Drug Enforcement Administration encouraged drug-trafficking as he expelled it from the country.

In response to US criticism on the war on drugs by Mexico, President Felipe Calderon said on Wednesday that corruption on the part of the US authorities is also fueling the trade of illegal drugs.

There had been numerous reports of US government involvement with illegal drug trafficking. A lawsuit filed in 1986 by two journalists represented by the Christic Institute alleges that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other parties are engaged in criminal acts, including financing the purchase of arms with the proceeds of cocaine sales.

Senator's John Kerry 1988 US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations report on Contra drug links, which was released on April 20, 1989 concludes that members of the US State Department "who provided support for the Contras are involved in drug trafficking ... and elements of the Contras themselves knowingly receive financial and material assistance from drug traffickers."

The US State Department's annual report on global counter narcotics efforts on Friday singled out Venezuela as a persistent transshipment point for drugs, due to its corruption, incompetence and lack of international counter-narcotics cooperation.

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