Canada’s role in drug war contrasts with shift in attitudes
Latin America seeking new ‘vision’ to confront issue
Canada’s steadily increasing role in the U.S.-led war on drugs is bumping up against calls for change in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Conservative government has made tackling drug trafficking in the Americas a key priority in recent years, deploying the military and doling out millions of dollars to help countries in the region take the fight to transnational crime groups.
But key partners, including Mexico, Guatemala and Colombia, have asked for a hemispheric and international debate on new approaches as drug violence continues to sweep their countries.
The division between Canada’s position and that of other countries was highlighted earlier this week when Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and his Mexican counterpart, José Antonio Meade Kuribrena, were asked about drugs during a joint news conference in Ottawa.
Meade Kuribrena, whose government has struggled with how to end the violence that has left tens of thousands of criminals, security forces and civilians dead without abandoning the country to drug lords, said the current strategy is not working.
“Even though we personally oppose legalization, we think that there should be an effort to construct a consensus around a new alternative and a new vision and a new way of confronting and dealing with drug problems in our region,” said Meade Kuribrena.
It’s a message that has been echoed by other governments within the Americas, and is why Mexico, Colombia and Guatemala — key partners for Canada in the region — have asked the United Nations to debate the issue. In addition, the Organization of American States released a study in May that also advocated a re-think of the war on drugs while examining four alternative strategies, including the idea of abandoning the 40-year fight entirely.
Opinions within the region are anything but unanimous on the best way forward, and governments aren’t about to cede the battlefield to the drug lords.
“The key thing is (Latin American and Caribbean countries) want to be able to experiment, they want out of basically the very constraining framework that’s been imposed on that file mostly by the United States,” said Jean Daudelin, a Latin America expert at Carleton University.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a surprise admission in April 2012 “that the current approach is not working,” yet the Conservative government has continued to ramp up Canada’s involvement in the war on drugs.
During his news conference with Meade Kuribrena, Baird highlighted steps the Conservative government has taken to strengthen drug laws in Canada while applauding the continued efforts of Mexico and other countries to stamp out drugtrafficking.
“We do have great respect for the significant efforts of successive Mexican governments to tackle organized crime,” Baird said. He added that Canada is doing its part to help in the region. “Not just in Mexico,” he said, “but working co-operatively to tackle crime in Central America. I think a great deal of progress has been made, and we want to continue build upon the partnerships that we’ve made.”
Briefing notes prepared for thenminister of state for the Americas Diane Ablonczy and obtained by Postmedia News showed the government’s tepid view of the OAS study.
“One of the objectives in our engagement in the Americas is to combat transnational crime and our programming investments demonstrate our commitment to this issue,” the notes read.
The Canadian military has become quietly but increasingly involved in the U.S.-led war on drugs since the Conservative government came to power in 2006. This has included deploying Canadian military surveillance aircraft, naval vessels and even submarines throughout the Caribbean and East Pacific to help U.S. drug interdiction missions.