CUBA: FARC calls for international conference to address illegal drug use to include U.S. and Europe

Record ID: 349802

  • Title: CUBA: FARC calls for international conference to address illegal drug use to include U.S. and Europe
  • Date: 3rd December 2013
  • Summary: HAVANA, CUBA (DECEMBER 03, 2013) (REUTERS) **FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY** FARC PEACE NEGOTIATING DELEGATION ENTERING NEWS CONFERENCE CAMERAMAN WORKING IVAN MARQUEZ, LEAD NEGOTIATOR OF THE FARC, AT PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) IVAN MARQUEZ, FARC LEAD NEGOTIATOR, SAYING: "Anti-drug policies should involve the capitalist countries, especially the United States and Europe. Without t
  • Embargoed: 18th December 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cuba
  • Country: Cuba
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAE8OMWZUOV23CX38EUKH9AIBJS
  • Story Text: As the Colombian government negotiates illegal drug trafficking with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the rebels call for an international conference to address illegal drug use to include U.S. and Europe.
    As Colombian government and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) negotiators tackle illegal drug trafficking during peace negotiations, rebels called for an international conference to address illegal drug production and consumption to include U.S. and Europe.

    "Anti-drug policies should involve the capitalist countries, especially the United States and Europe," said FARC lead negotiator Ivan Marquez. "Without their commitment and responsibility to contribute to the reduction of demand, to face the problems of consumption and combat the laundering of money in their respective countries, there's no place for a real and effective solution to the problem of illegal drugs."
    In Havana this week, government mediators are working through a five-point agenda with some three dozen rebel leaders.
    Earlier this month the two sides reached agreement on one of the toughest items on the agenda: FARC political participation. While details of the accord have not yet been revealed, the rebels are expected to be allowed to hold some sort of public office and possibly gain access to Congress.
    Both sides are now working on resolving the third leg of the process: drug trafficking. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has said he hoped the peace process would turn Colombia, once the world's largest producer of cocaine, into a "coca-free country."
    But Marquez said the issue must be tackled globally.

    "We need an international conference to take place that will involve the main producing and consuming countries, and those that fulfil the function of movement in this transnational capitalistic business of a criminal nature, from which those involved should issue concrete commitments in order to contribute to a solution to the problem of illegal drugs in our country," Marquez added.
    Both the EU and the United States consider the FARC a terrorist organization.
    This round of negotiations is expected to last until Sunday, December 8. Negotiators expect to resume talks on December 15 and go through the 20th, wrapping up for the holiday season.
    The Colombian civil war has left more than 200,000 people dead and countless displaced since it began in 1964.
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