17 LatAm and Caribbean countries in “Major Illicit Drug Producing and Major Drug-Transit Countries” list

At LAHT (emphasis added),

That list of countries, which does not necessarily reflect the counter-narcotics efforts of their governments or their level of cooperation with the US on illegal drug control, comprises Afghanistan, the Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Burma, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Peru and Venezuela.

Bolivia and Venezuela were designated as countries that had “failed demonstrably” during the previous 12 months to adhere to their obligations under international counter-narcotics agreements.

Count ’em:

1. Bahamas,
2. Belize,
3. Bolivia,
4. Colombia,
5. Costa Rica,
6. Dominican Republic,
7. Ecuador,
8. El Salvador,
9. Guatemala,
10. Haiti,
11. Honduras,
12. Jamaica,
13. Mexico,
14. Nicaragua,
15. Panama,
16. Peru,
17. Venezuela.

Bad news on Colombia, which should not surprise readers of this blog,

But the novelty of this year’s memorandum was the decision to threaten Colombia, Washington’s closest ally both in the Latin American region and in the fight against drug trafficking, with decertification.

The US “seriously considered designating Colombia as a country that has failed demonstrably to adhere to its obligations under international counter-narcotics agreements,” the presidential memorandum stated, citing the “extraordinary growth of coca cultivation and cocaine production over the past 3 years, including record cultivation during the last 12 months.”

Record coca cultivation and cocaine production, that is, taking place as the FARC, the world’s largest narco-terrorist organization, becomes a political power.

In a somewhat related vein,
I’ve been watching the third season of Netflix’s morality tale, Narcos, where art imitates life. It takes place during the 1990s and, as the saying goes, “The more things change . . .”