NewsWhore
12-02-2009, 04:20 PM
Former governor of the Central Bank and Dominican ambassador to the US, Bernardo Vega says Dominicans are losing the battle against drugs. In an opinion piece in Hoy, he makes the point that it becomes more evident every day that members of the Armed Forces and the National Police are collaborating with drug traffickers. "And if that is so, there is no way to resolve, or even reduce, the problem," he concludes.
He says that the costly Tucano airplanes and the radars will not solve the problem if the people operating this equipment collaborate with the drug traffickers. He mentioned that the criminals that are caught, as in the notorious Sobeida case, are then allowed to walk free thanks to the complicity of certain authorities.
Given this situation, thinking aloud he recommends a change in strategy.
"There are two alternatives or new policies. One is to do as other countries have done and legalize the trade in certain types of drugs to reduce the price and reduce the profitability, as occurred in 1933 when the US ended its prohibition on alcoholic beverages. In the DR, however, 83% of the population is opposed to legalization, so to achieve this change would be an uphill struggle.
The other choice, he says, is to do what El Salvador has done. Allow its territory to be used by US airplanes to fight drug trafficking with El Salvadoran or US crews. Vega says this has resulted in a considerable decline in drug shipments, and is a much cheaper alternative and more efficient than the purchase of the Tucanos.
Vega says that in 1995 the DR signed an agreement that enables a Dominican navy officer to be on board the US coast guard vessels that patrol our coasts. Vega suggests it is just a matter of extending this agreement to the patrolling of the skies. "If there are American bases in a place as near as Puerto Rico, their cost should not be high, providing the Americans have the will to help us with this. We need to ask Ambassador Yzaguirre when he arrives."
See: www.hoy.com.do (http://www.hoy.com.do/opiniones/2009/12/1/304332/Dos-formas-de-combatir-la-droga)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#10)
He says that the costly Tucano airplanes and the radars will not solve the problem if the people operating this equipment collaborate with the drug traffickers. He mentioned that the criminals that are caught, as in the notorious Sobeida case, are then allowed to walk free thanks to the complicity of certain authorities.
Given this situation, thinking aloud he recommends a change in strategy.
"There are two alternatives or new policies. One is to do as other countries have done and legalize the trade in certain types of drugs to reduce the price and reduce the profitability, as occurred in 1933 when the US ended its prohibition on alcoholic beverages. In the DR, however, 83% of the population is opposed to legalization, so to achieve this change would be an uphill struggle.
The other choice, he says, is to do what El Salvador has done. Allow its territory to be used by US airplanes to fight drug trafficking with El Salvadoran or US crews. Vega says this has resulted in a considerable decline in drug shipments, and is a much cheaper alternative and more efficient than the purchase of the Tucanos.
Vega says that in 1995 the DR signed an agreement that enables a Dominican navy officer to be on board the US coast guard vessels that patrol our coasts. Vega suggests it is just a matter of extending this agreement to the patrolling of the skies. "If there are American bases in a place as near as Puerto Rico, their cost should not be high, providing the Americans have the will to help us with this. We need to ask Ambassador Yzaguirre when he arrives."
See: www.hoy.com.do (http://www.hoy.com.do/opiniones/2009/12/1/304332/Dos-formas-de-combatir-la-droga)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#10)