Otto Perez Molina, current President of Guatemala, has launched a proposal to create a Central American court to decriminalize drug use, and demanded that nations of high drug consumption should reimburse Central American nations for the capture and confiscation of illicit drugs. Several publications reporting on the issue are alluding that the United States and member nations of the European Union as the countries that President Perez Molina referred to.

The comments by Perez Molina were made at a meeting in which President Laura Chinchilla and Ricardo Martinelli of Panama were also in attendance. The meeting was supposed to include the heads of state of El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, but they canceled their attendance at the last minute. Still, the Vice-President of Honduras Samuel Reyes and the Minister of National Security in El Salvador David Mungia were in attendance at the meeting in the city of Antigua.

President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua has voiced his opposition to drug decriminalization efforts. The President of El Salvador, Manuel Funes, would like the meeting to take place at a different time. An American consultant interviewed by the Associated Press commented that Washington was aware of the difference in opinions among the Central American Heads of State, and that the meeting echoes a common sentiment that the United States government is not really helping the region in this matter.

Damage Control

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden scrambled to meet Mexican and Central American leaders as soon as meetings about decriminalization were planned earlier this month. The current issue is reminiscent of the situation in 2009, when United Nations and U.S. officials debated the efficacy of the War on Drugs, and immediate damage control took place. Such efforts by the United States are expected to continue in the wake of the comments by President Perez Molina.

Comments by President Laura Chinchilla

For her part, President Laura Chinchilla reminded attendants that Costa Rica’s conservative society would probably oppose decriminalization, but that the matter should be given careful consideration and escalated to open debate in the United Nations Security Council. She agrees with the confiscation scheme proposed by Perez Molina, insofar as the revenue is utilized for education and prevention.