Jagdeo welcomes new US administration posture on drug fight

Apr 16, 2009 News

– mulls new legislation to deal with extradition

President Bharrat Jagdeo says he hopes that CARICOM could capitalise on the new posture by the present United States administration to work towards strengthening the relationship in the fight against the trafficking of narcotics and guns.

The Guyanese leader has been critical of the previous US administration’s position with regards to assisting developing countries like Guyana, which are considered transshipment points for North America-bound cocaine, to arrest the drug problem.
Jagdeo had accused the United States of lecturing to small countries when that country was the major player in the whole drug trade.

Yesterday he told a media conference that he was very pleased that both President Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton, the Secretary of State, have all but echoed him.
Clinton recently stated that her country needs to do more to stop the flow of arms into Mexico since this provided security for drug traffickers.
President Jagdeo had stated that the United States has to do more at home to fight the drug trade because the demand was pushing the supply, and because the financial transactions that fueled drug trafficking flowed out of the United States.

“When I mentioned these things in some of my engagements here some people jumped on the bandwagon and they said that we were against the United States of America, and since they were the defenders of American interests here in Guyana, they thought that I was being extreme.”
He said that he was very pleased with the new approach of the US administration. President Obama is calling for the American society to deal with the drug users, without whom there could not be a viable market.
“It is a very positive approach in tackling the issue of drugs and arms smuggling.”
The Guyanese leader leaves today for the Summit of the Americas where these issues are likely to be discussed.

“President Obama has also replaced confrontation with the offer of dialogue on many issues, even with regimes that the US traditionally had not had close engagements for cooperation with. I think that would also set the tone for the discussions in the summit of the Americas,” Jagdeo stated.
Meanwhile, the Guyanese leader acknowledged the need for a modern extradition treaty with countries like the United States of America.
The treaty, as it stands, prevents Guyana from extraditing any other of its citizens to the United States. The reason is that the treaty between Guyana and the United States does not prevent the United States from extraditing the Guyanese to a third country.
Chief Justice Ian Chang recently handed down a ruling to this effect, much to the displeasure of the United States.

British legal expert, Queens Counsel Paul Garlick, when asked about the treaty, said that Guyana inherited many of its laws and treaties from the British. He said that treaties with Commonwealth countries do not allow for further extradition to third countries. “This issue does not arise,” Mr. Garlick said.
He said that as it relates to the United States, this is indeed a difficult situation that will require difficult answers. Garlick said that Guyana could enter into diplomatic negotiations with the United States seeking assurances that there will be no extradition to third countries.
However, there is no guarantee that the assurance would be kept.
The next possible solution is a modification of the laws. And contrary to a headline contending that Mr Garlick said that there were no laws for extradition, Mr Garlick said that there were laws, which however are influenced by the interpretation of the treaty.

Because of this impasse, the United States is currently in discussion with Guyana toward modifying the laws to allow for continued extradition to the United States.
Recently, two high profile drug suspects challenged the attempts to extradite them to the United States and prompted the ruling by the Chief Justice.
But President Jagdeo said that Guyana needs at its disposal a whole arsenal of weapons and tools to fight drug trafficking.

“I feel in this new framework with the ambassador that we’re discussing, I look forward very much to a more modern, a more enlightened partnership with the US government on this whole issue,” President Jagdeo stated.
He said that Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh will soon present a report so that a modern money laundering Bill will be passed in Parliament.
“Then we need to look at extradition treaty; we need to look at a number of other legislation that will allow us to have more tools to fight drugs. I am pleased that we’re moving forward in this regard,” Jagdeo said.

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