Transcript
PRESIDENT CARDOSO: The decisions taken by President Gaviria, President Zedillo and myself to come to -- with the issue of drugs and democracy in Latin America -- was dictated by several competing reasons. First, because two of the most critical problems facing democracy in our region, violence and corruption, are closely associated with drugs. I think there is no one in Latin America with some sense of responsibility without having the sense that we need to stop violence and corruption because both are undermining if not democracy as -- the routine of people, the day-by-day life of the population. You cannot assume the idea of a democracy without security for citizens.
Second, because current policies based on the war on drugs strategies have clearly failed. I will wait for President Gaviria. He is much more well informed about the failure and he will explain to us what probably we already know about it. Third, because drug-related crime and violence in countries like Colombia and Mexico or . . .Rio have reached a level that no longer be tolerated. We are no longer talking about collateral damage or unintended consequences of the war on drugs, but of a major political and social threat to democracy.
Fourth and last, because in most countries discussion about the drug problem has so far been blocked by a taboo that associates any critique of the prohibition -- toward crime. I think that was maybe one of the main reasons why we decided to join and to give maybe our names to that commission because there is a taboo. So in order to break the taboo, it's necessary that some people take the decision to confront the main crime.
Anti-narcotic policies are firmly rooted in prejudice and fear that bear little relation to reality. Opening up a broad discussion and debate about these limits and undesirable effects of current policies is the precondition for progress in the search for humane and efficient strategies. With this goal in mind, we defined our priority constituency as public opinion in Latin American countries so our report was oriented toward the Latin American audience, not a global one, but it has some consequences for the global level.
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