It was going to happen sooner rather than later. Three years ago, a trio of former Latin American presidents denounced drug prohibition and called to break the taboo of discussing policy alternatives such as drug decriminalization. Then, a few months later, we had a former Mexican president calling for outright legalization. Late last year, a sitting Colombian president said that he would favor drug legalization if the rest of the world does it too. This weekend, a sitting Guatemalan president said he will propose drug legalization for Central America in an upcoming regional summit.
Otto Pérez Molina thus becomes the first sitting head of state to propose ending the war on drugs. Being a conservative former general who ran on a platform of fighting crime with an iron fist, Pérez Molina is an unlikely champion of sensible drug policy reform. As he described it, under his proposal It wouldnt be a crime to transport, to move drugs. It would all have to be regulated. Pérez Molina says that with legalization, you would get rid of money-laundering, smuggling, arms trafficking and the corruption that has crippled judges, police forces and entire government institutions, not only in our country but in the region.
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As Pérez Molina said, Central Americas biggest liability in its fight against organized crime is its institutional weakness. Judges, policemen, politicians, and soldiers are easily corrupted by cartels. Despite increasing their security budgets by 60% in the last five years, Central American countries spent approximately $4 billion in 2010 on security and justice. This amount dwarfs with the estimated $25-35 billion that Mexican cartelswho run the drug business in Central Americapocket every year.
