The governments of Central America and the Dominican Republic announced the creation of a commission to harmonize laws across the region against organized crime.
“No country in Central America, even the most secure, is immune to the onslaught of organized crime,” said Sigfrido Reyes, president of El Salvador's Parliament, at the 11th Special Forum of Presidents of Legislative Branches in Central America and the Caribbean (FOPREL).
During the day-long meeting, Roberto Alejos, president of the Guatemalan Parliament, emphasized the importance of harmonizing laws between Central American countries. The lack of coordination between governments has often resulted in crimes going unpunished, according to Alejos, as what is “a crime in one country is not in another.”
According to one of the advisers, "the job of this legislature is to attempt to harmonize the legislative issues throughout the region to turn this harmonization into a tool that the government can use to directly attack organized crime."
The commission is set launch in Guatemala on August 26.
FOPREL’s permanent members include Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and the Dominican Republic.
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