For the seventh year running, Burma has been labeled as having "failed demonstrably" in its efforts to combat illicit narcotics, according to the United States government.
Notification of Burma's dubious distinction as the only country to be labeled such since the classification originated in fiscal year 2002, came yesterday in Washington, D.C. during a press conference by the United States Assistant Secretary of State in charge of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.
Assistant Secretary of State David Johnson informed assembled reporters that "Bolivia, Burma, and Venezuela, "failed demonstrably" during the last 12 months to make sufficient or meaningful efforts to adhere to the obligations they have undertaken under international counter-narcotics agreements."
Johnson pointed to Burma's continuing place of origin for the majority of methamphetamine pills in Asia, in addition to an upward trend in poppy cultivation previously judged to be in decline, as definitive statistics in determining Burma's placement on the State Department's 2008 list of 20 Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries.
"The military regime has made little apparent effort to curb production of the pills and little effort to stop poppy cultivation," continued Johnson in his indictment of the junta's anti-narcotics activities. "Their efforts to reduce demand, interdict drug shipments, and combat corruption and money laundering continue to be lackluster."
The United States President is responsible for categorizing which of the designated countries, if any, are to be deemed as having "failed demonstrably," a categorization that opens the door for sanctions against the country in question.
However, the President may also waive the inference of any sanctions if such punitive measures would be understood as counterproductive to the interests of the United States.
In his notice of Presidential Determination, also issued Tuesday, President Bush informed the State Department that "support for programs to aid Venezuela's democratic institutions and continued support for bilateral programs in Bolivia are vital to the national interests of the United States," thereby forfeiting the possibility of sanctions tied to narcotics production against the government's of Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales.
The Presidential 'pardon' for Venezuela and Bolivia means that Burma remains the only country on this year's list of the Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries to face possible sanctions in connection with their failure on the narcotics front.
However, when Johnson was questioned by reporters as to what additional sanctions this could possibly imply for the already heavily sanctioned regime in Naypyitaw, the Assistant Secretary of State declined to go into any depth as to what, if any, measures were open for the United States to pursue.
The list for fiscal year 2008 is identical to that of 2007, with Burma's neighbors India and Laos – in addition to Venezuela and Bolivia – being joined on the register by Afghanistan, the Bahamas, Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, and Peru.
