Legal Journals

Americas? Leaders Vow to Fight Cartels

By twu

President Obama recently met as many as 34 leaders of democratically elected nations of the Western Hemisphere to consider and discuss an array of issues that directly affect them.  These issues include the current economic crisis, energy issues, climate change, and personal security. This meeting was held at the Summit of the Americas from April 17?19 in the port of Spain, in Trinidad and Tobago.  Recently, the frequency of violent activities along the US- Mexican border has drastically increased, forcing the various Central American nations and the US to spend as much as $1.4 billion in order to enhance law-enforcement training and military equipment, as well as to improve intelligence cooperation.

President Obama also announced that he will seek US senate ratification of an inter-American arms trafficking treaty designed to stop the flow of illegal firearms and ammunition to drug cartels and other destructive groups in the Western Hemisphere. The leaders believe that by taking these drastic steps, the illicit transnational arms market that fuels the violence associated with drug trafficking, terrorism, and international organized crime will diminish. In order to further assist this effort, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced the appointment of Alan Bersin, a former federal prosecutor, to coordinate efforts to reduce drug-related crime along the US-Mexican border.

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Full post as published by Harvard International Law Journal Digest on April 20, 2009 (boomark / email).