HomeNewsBriefPanama Dismisses Drug Legalization
BRIEF

Panama Dismisses Drug Legalization

DRUG POLICY / 28 FEB 2012 BY EDWARD FOX EN

Panama's government has stated its opposition to drug legalization, ahead of a visit by Guatemala's vice president to promote debate on the issue.

Before a planned visit to Panama by Guatemalan vice president, Roxana Baldetti, Panamanian Foreign Minister Roberto Enriquez said, "We absolutely do not agree with the decriminalization of drugs," reported El Nuevo Diario. He added, however, that his government would listen to Baldetti's proposals when she visits Wednesday.

Baldetti is undertaking a tour of Central America in order to explain her government's position on the issue prior to a summit of Central American leaders in March.

InSight Crime Analysis

Guatemala's new president, Otto Perez, surprised onlookers after he took office in January by calling for debate on liberalizing drug laws, saying that legalizing the trade would cut the revenue of organized criminal groups. The presidents of El Salvador and Honduras have both expressed their opposition to the idea, while Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla said it would not do anything to decrease levels of violence in Central America.

Thanks to its proximity to Colombia, and its location as the link between South and Central America, Panama is a key route for drug trafficking organizations. In 2009 its seizures of illicit narcotics were the third highest in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the UN's 2011 World Drug Report.

Though Panama has not witnessed the same levels of violence seen in its northern neighbors -- particularly Guatemala and Honduras -- its homicide rate has been rising over the last decade, reaching 21.6 murders per 100,000 inhabitants in 2010, double that in 2000.

Panama has a strong relationship with the US, which has spoken out against Perez's proposal.

US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano reiterated her country's opposition to altering the drug war's strategy during a tour of Central America that will see her visit Guatemala.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

COCAINE / 3 AUG 2023

A new book by journalist Deborah Bonello examines the roles women play in organized crime and argues that their participation…

ELITES AND CRIME / 27 JUN 2023

Left-wing candidate Bernardo Arévalo caused a dramatic upset in Guatemala's elections, securing a run-off with Sandra Torres of UNE.

ELITES AND CRIME / 14 JUL 2023

In Guatemala, a series of conflicting rulings has left the country reeling, as the dominant political bloc tries desperately to…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…