THE BURTON RESOLUTION ON VENEZUELA AND DRUGS:

THE CASE OF THE MISSING FACTS

On May 3, 2005, Rep. Dan Burton, Chair of the Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere Affairs sent a “Dear Colleague” requesting original co-sponsorship of a resolution “Expressing the sense of Congress that the Government of Venezuela should actively support strategies for ensuring secure airport facilities that meet international certifications to prevent trafficking of controlled substances, narcotics, and laundered money.

Sad to say, the resolution is missing some salient facts. A review of “Whereas” clauses contained in the resolution shows how the missing facts paint a far different picture than the resolution concerning Venezuela and counter-narcotics activity.

RESOLUTION: “Whereas drug trafficking through Venezuela significantly increased in 2005.

FACT: 2005 was a record year of drug seizures by Venezuelan authorities. In fact, 2005 witnessed a 58 percent increase in drug seizures (as of November 2005) compared to drug seizures in 2004, according to Venezuelan authorities (Copyright 2005 Xinhua News Agency
Xinhua General News Service, November 29, 2005 Tuesday 3:01 AM EST)

RESOLUTION: “Whereas the Government of Venezuela and the Venezuela National Anti-Drug Office (ONA) have officially reported only two seizures of currency in 2006….”

FACT: The Venezuelan National Anti-Drug Office records that the total seizure of drugs in the Venezuelan territory increased about 30% in the first trimester of 2006, compared to the first trimester of 2005.

DRUG PERIOD	FIRST TRIMESTER YEAR 2005 (KG)	FIRST TRIMESTER YEAR 2006 (KG)
TOTAL	10.464,960	13.335,88

RESOLUTION: “Whereas on April 11, 2006, a commercial plane originating in Venezuela was seized in Mexico at the airport of Ciudad del Carmen, carrying 5.5 tons of cocaine with an estimated street value of $100 million;”

FACT: According to Mexico’s Defense Department, the seizure happened due to information received from Venezuelan authorities. “The army was waiting for the plane on Monday at the airport of Cuidad de Carmen, 550 miles east of Mexico City, after receiving information from Venezuelan and U.S. authorities, Gen. Carlos Gaytan told a news conference.” (“Mexico Army Finds Tons of Cocaine on Plane”, E. Eduardo Castillo, Associated Press, April 12, 20006, The Washington Post)

RESOLUTION: “Whereas in September 2005, the Government of the United States determined that …Venezuela could no longer be certified as an ally in the war on drugs.”

FACT: This determination was largely based on Venezuela’s suspension of Drug Enforcement Agency activity in the country. The Resolution fails to mention that Venezuela and the United States have been engaged in negotiations for months, and are close to achieving an accord for a new set of protocols concerning the resumption of DEA activity in Venezuela. Needless to say, the timing of the Burton resolution condemning Venezuela, just as Venezuela is on the cusp of an agreement with the United States on counter-narcotics activity is not something that immediately strikes an observer as helpful to U.S.-Venezuela relations in the counter-narcotics area.

RESOLUTION: “Whereas seizure statistics at the Simon Bolivar International Airport in Caracas are not available because the Government of Venezuela does not publicize such statistics”

FACT: Below is a chart of the places where the Venezuelan Government seized drugs in 2005. Notice that the chart specifically includes airports. Whether the Venezuelan Government format its data in a way that others may deem better for counter-narcotics activity assessment does not seem to an objective observer to be the kind of issue that ought to warrant the condemnation of a government.

RESOLUTION: “Whereas the Department of State’s International Narcotics Control Strategy Report of 2006 describes an increased level of exploitation of the remote and poorly secured 2,200-kilometer border separating Venezuela and Colombia:”

FACT: The Department of State spent much time and energy to block Venezuela’s purchase of the necessary equipment to combat drug trafficking along the difficult-to-patrol border with Colombia. One prominent example of this is Venezuela’s planned, but thwarted, purchase of Brazilian aircraft, which was blocked by the Department of State and criticized by various members of the House International Relations Committee. Indeed, an examination of H.Con. Res. 328, sponsored by Rep. Mack, a first term member of that committee, reveals an erroneous description of the Brazilian aircraft as “fighter aircraft.” In contrast, the manufacturer of the aircraft described it in the way Venezuela described it, as an aircraft to help patrol the border. The president of the Brazilian Aeronautics Company (Embraer) Mauricio Botelho, stated this on January 20, 2006 regarding the U.S. veto on the sale of 24 Embraer Tucano aircraft to Venezuela: “The plane we are talking about is not an attack plane. Its purpose is law enforcement in missions directed against drug and arms trafficking,” declared Botelho. (Embraer Comments on Impasse Blocking Sale of Airplanes To Venezuela”, Agencia Brasil 23 January 2006).

In light of the position taken by the Department of State, and some members of the House International Relations Committee, it is unfair – to put it delicately -- to now criticize Venezuela regarding its efforts to effectively patrol its border with Colombia.

RESOLUTION: “Whereas the Department of State’s International Narcotics Control Strategy Report of 2006 reports that Colombian cartels and Venezuelan criminal organizations (among other smugglers) routinely exploit a variety of routes and methods to move hundreds of tons of illegal drugs into Venezuela every year, and organized crime in Venezuela has begun to set up operations in foreign countries….”

FACT: In October 2005, Venezuela passed the Organic Law Against Illicit Traffic and Consumption of drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Published in Official Gazette No. 38.287. Caracas, Wednesday 5^th October, 2005. Noted also in Globovision, October 5, 2005) As well, Venezuela passed The Organic Law Against Organized Crime on September 9, 2005, a law relating directly to the prevention and prosecution of human trafficking and drug trafficking. Given that the United States Department of State had called on Venezuela to pass this law, and given that the National Assembly did in fact pass the legislation, it strikes an observer as odd to say the least, that less than one year after its passage Congress would condemn the Venezuelan government for not taking enough steps to combat drug trafficking.

RESOLUTION: “Whereas Venezuela is a key transit point for drugs leaving Colombia….”

FACT: On September 27, 2005, Venezuela and Colombia signed an agreement one of whose principle objectives is the creation of greater coordination and communication between the drug enforcement authorities of the two countries in an effort to create more effective enforcement mechanisms against narcotics traffickers. The agreement was signed in Bogota by Colombia’s Vice Minister of Defense and the Executive Secretary of its drug enforcement office, as well as Venezuela’s Vice Minister of Citizen Security, and the Executive Secretary of Venezuela’s National Office Against Drugs. An observer wonders why the Burton Resolution fails to mention any of this.