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OAS Permanent Council Receives Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala

The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) today received, in a special meeting, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala, Luis Fernando Carrera Castro, who delivered a draft Declaration of the 43rd OAS General Assembly, to be held in the city of Antigua, between June 4 and 6, 2013, with the theme: "Toward a Comprehensive Anti-Drug Policy in the Americas."

During his presentation, the Guatemalan Foreign Minister said any adequate response to this problem must start from a perspective of "respect for human rights and human dignity," which takes "a comprehensive view of the drug problem," and in which countries not only struggle for security but also see the problem as one of "human health and public health." We want to respond to the drug problem so the hemisphere's citizens are not affected by the health problems that arise from their use and addiction," he said.

At the special meeting of the Permanent Council, Foreign Minister Carrera said that "hemispheric cooperation" is another area to be highlighted in the proposal, and that such cooperation should be strengthened "beyond what has been done so far." He emphasized the need for specialized public health organizations to develop a hemispheric dialogue and that, on this basis, a discussion can be held on "what are the best ways to ensure adequate public health with respect to the issue of drugs."

He reiterated that "a vision of human rights begins with a comprehensive view of the drug problem," and added that this requires "strengthening in several areas of state action, and that demands qualitatively superior hemispheric cooperation to what we have seen to date." The Foreign Minister said that while the problem of addiction is not "numerically" very large in the region, it must nevertheless be addressed, pending a discussion on how best to fight the "addictive and non-addictive consumption" of drugs.

He also called for the prevention of violence and criminality, with emphasis on "arms control and money laundering," and recognized that at present there is a lack of "indicators of success" that show what has been achieved in this regard.

Finally, the Guatemalan Foreign Minister called for a "new hemispheric policy" regarding illicit drugs "based on knowledge, analysis, and science rather than ideology and prejudice." The Foreign Minister suggested that, based on the elements that are developed in the draft Declaration, a "process of review of the hemispheric strategy in response to the drug problem" could be carried out, concluding with a Special General Assembly in February 2014.

For his part, the Secretary General of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza, said that the 43rd General Assembly in Antigua will be "very important in our institutional life" and that the organization he leads has received "with great enthusiasm” the draft Declaration. The Secretary General said that the proposal made by the Guatemalan Minister of Foreign Affairs represents an "invaluable contribution to this debate, which contains a set of alternatives that countries should discuss."

The OAS leader informed the Permanent Council that in mid-May the Report on the drug problem in the Americas will be submitted to the Chair of the Summit of the Americas, prepared by a group of experts under his supervision, in compliance with the mandate that emerged from the Sixth Summit held last year in Cartagena, Colombia. Later, during the meeting of CICAD, the Report will be discussed with Member States.

During the meeting, the representatives of Peru, Venezuela, Colombia, Canada, Haiti, on behalf of CARICOM; Mexico representing the ALADI group, and Costa Rica, on behalf of SICA, all took the floor.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

The video of the event will be available here.

The B-roll of the event will be available here.

The audio of the event is available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-133/13