This Tuesday, the United States once again declared a “national emergency” due to the threat posed to the country by drug traffickers. Its base of operations is Colombia.
President Joe Biden, in his letter to Congress, notified the legislature of its decision to extend the state of emergency, Given that this threat is still latent and affects national security.
“The circumstances that led to the declaration of this national emergency have not been resolved. The actions of major drug traffickers based in Colombia continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States and cause extreme levels of violence, corruption, and harm in the United States and abroad. . Therefore, I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national state of emergency declared in Decree Law No. 12978. “It’s about major drug traffickers based in Colombia,” Biden said in his letter to Congress.
Executive Order 12978, which Biden alluded to, was first issued by then-President Bill Clinton in October 1995.
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The so-called “Clinton List” was derived from this Resolution, which was one of the tools the United States used to persecute drug traffickers. Being under this scope, which is under the Treasury Department, means all kinds of financial sanctions for those accused of drug trafficking and institutions that serve to profit from drug sales.
(You may be interested in: The USA documented Colombia’s performance in the fight against drugs)
Although a state of emergency was declared by Colombia, Currently, the Agency is being used as an umbrella to attack drug trafficking networks around the world. The Treasury Department’s list includes companies and individuals from around the world.
Among them, the networks most concerning to the United States are from Mexico and China, where they operate today, particularly those that traffic in fentanyl, which causes more than 100,000 deaths annually in that country.
It should be clarified that the Executive Order has been renewed without interruption by every president following Clinton since 1995: George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and now Biden.
But there has been a debate going on for some time as to whether Colombia should be invoked so directly when declaring a national emergency. Due to drug trafficking, given that the country is no longer the main concern of the United States and drug traffickers operate from different parts of the world.
A month ago, The White House acknowledged Colombia’s performance in the war on drugs but previously expressed concerns about the rise in illicit crops According to UN figures, there is a 13 percent increase in the country.
According to this organization, there are 230,000 hectares of coca cultivation in the country; That’s a historic figure and more than double what was available when Clinton issued the emergency order in 1995.
SERGIO GOMEZ MASERI
TIME REPORTER
washington
On Twitter: @sergom68
Source: Exame
