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OAS Secretary General Presents Report on Drug Problem in the Americas to the President of Colombia

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, will deliver tomorrow, Friday to the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, the "Report on the Drug Problem in the Americas," prepared by the hemispheric institution during the last year following the mandate of the Summit of the Americas held in April 2012 in Cartagena, Colombia.

Also on Friday, Secretary General Insulza will send the document to the leaders of the other 33 OAS Member States, through their Permanent Representatives. On Monday, Insulza will publicly present the document in a ceremony at OAS headquarters in Washington, DC.

The document, of approximately 400 pages, was produced by several OAS working teams, with the support of numerous experts from around the world, working under the direction of Secretary General Insulza. Divided into two parts, the Report has a first chapter called the "Analytical Report," which defines the problem, explains how its analysis was carried out and examines the reasons behind the various policies implemented by governments around the world over the decades to combat drug use. The second chapter, called the "Report on Scenarios," presents four possible scenarios that could develop in the Americas from the present to 2025, depending on the future choices made by the governments of the hemisphere.

Secretary General Insulza will be in Colombia accompanied by the Secretary for Multidimensional Security, Adam Blackwell, and the Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), Paul Simons.

Starting with the presentation of the Report commissioned by the Presidents of the Americas, the OAS hopes to spark a high level political dialogue, whose first stage will be the meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the hemisphere during the 43rd OAS General Assembly, to be held in Antigua, Guatemala, from June 4 to 6. For this summit meeting of the organization, the host government chose as the central theme of the discussions "Toward a Comprehensive Anti-Drug Policy in the Americas."

The study had a cost of $2.25 million and was funded by contributions from the governments of Brazil, Colombia, Chile, the United States, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Turkey, as well as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) and several privately funded foundations.

The delivery of the Report will be broadcast live via webcast. The link will be available on the OAS website.

Reference: E-192/13