{
  "id": "R41215",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "R41215",
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  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
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      "id": 403046,
      "date": "2012-03-19",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T00:12:11.006702",
      "title": "Latin America and the Caribbean: Illicit Drug Trafficking and U.S. Counterdrug Programs ",
      "summary": "Drug trafficking is viewed as a primary threat to citizen security and U.S. interests in Latin America and the Caribbean despite decades of anti-drug efforts by the United States and partner governments. The production and trafficking of popular illicit drugs\u2014cocaine, marijuana, opiates, and methamphetamine\u2014generate a multi-billion dollar black market in which Latin American criminal and terrorist organizations thrive. These groups challenge state authority in source and transit countries where governments are often fragile and easily corrupted. According to the Department of Justice, Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) and their affiliates \u201cdominate the supply and wholesale distribution of most illicit drugs in the United States\u201d and are solidifying that dominance. Drug trafficking-related crime and violence in the region has escalated in recent years, raising the drug issue to the forefront of U.S. foreign policy concerns. \nSince the mid-1970s, the U.S. government has invested billions of dollars in anti-drug assistance programs aimed at reducing the flow of Latin American-sourced illicit drugs to the United States. Most of these programs have emphasized supply reduction tools, particularly drug crop eradication and interdiction of illicit narcotics, and have been designed on a bilateral or sub-regional level. Many would argue that the results of U.S.-led drug control efforts have been mixed. Temporary successes in one country or sub-region have often led traffickers to alter their cultivation patterns, production techniques, and trafficking routes and methods in order to avoid detection. As a result of this so-called \u201cballoon effect,\u201d efforts have done little to reduce the overall availability of illicit drugs in the United States. Former Latin American presidents and Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina have challenged the effectiveness of the so-called \u201cwar on drugs.\u201d Perez Molina has recently asserted that the region needs to consider legalizing the use and transport of some drugs in order to stem drug trafficking-related violence.\nThe Obama Administration has continued U.S. support for Plan Colombia and the M\u00e9rida Initiative, but has broadened the focus of those aid packages to focus more on citizen security and institution-building than on mainly prioritizing drug supply control efforts. Newer programs like the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) and the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI) include an emphasis on rule of law, anti-corruption, and community and youth development programs. The Administration has appointed a coordinator within the State Department to oversee the aforementioned assistance packages, which it has termed \u201ccitizen security programs,\u201d and is developing a comprehensive Western Hemisphere Counterdrug Strategy. In order to complement these international efforts, President Obama and his top advisers have acknowledged the role that U.S. drug demand has played in fueling the drug trade in the region and requested increased funding for prevention and treatment programs. Obama Administration officials remain opposed to legalization or decriminalization of illicit drug use. \nCongress has influenced U.S. drug control policy in Latin America by appropriating certain types and levels of funding for counterdrug assistance programs and conditioning the provision of antidrug funding on the basis of human rights and other reporting requirements. Congress has also sought to ensure that counterdrug programs are implemented in tandem with judicial reform, anti-corruption, and human rights programs. The 112th Congress has held hearings evaluating drug assistance programs and related domestic initiatives and border security efforts. \nThis report provides an overview of the drug flows in the Americas and U.S. antidrug assistance programs in the region. It also raises some policy issues for Congress to consider as it exercises oversight of U.S. antidrug programs and policies in the Western Hemisphere.",
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    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc820264/",
      "id": "R41215_2011May12",
      "date": "2011-05-12",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
      "title": "Latin America and the Caribbean: Illicit Drug Trafficking and U.S. Counterdrug Programs",
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    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc103094/",
      "id": "R41215_2011Jan25",
      "date": "2011-01-25",
      "retrieved": "2012-09-19T20:16:14",
      "title": "Latin America and the Caribbean: Illicit Drug Trafficking and U.S. Counterdrug Programs",
      "summary": "This report provides an overview of the drug flows in the Americas and U.S. anti-drug assistance programs in the region. It also raises some policy issues for Congress to consider as it exercises oversight of U.S. anti-drug programs and policies in the Western Hemisphere.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
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      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Illicit drug traffic",
          "name": "Illicit drug traffic"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Drug traffic",
          "name": "Drug traffic"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Organized crime",
          "name": "Organized crime"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Drug seizures",
          "name": "Drug seizures"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc501765/",
      "id": "R41215_2010Apr30",
      "date": "2010-04-30",
      "retrieved": "2015-03-30T22:03:27",
      "title": "Latin America and the Caribbean: Illicit Drug Trafficking and U.S. Counterdrug Programs",
      "summary": "This report provides an overview of the drug flows in the Americas and U.S. anti-drug assistance programs in the region. It also raises some policy issues for Congress to consider as it exercises oversight of U.S. anti-drug programs and policies in the Western Hemisphere.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
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      ],
      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Illicit drug traffic",
          "name": "Illicit drug traffic"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Drug traffic",
          "name": "Drug traffic"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Organized crime",
          "name": "Organized crime"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Drug seizures",
          "name": "Drug seizures"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Foreign Affairs",
    "Health Policy",
    "Intelligence and National Security",
    "Latin American Affairs",
    "National Defense"
  ]
}