US State Department Offers to Fund Mexico Heroin Fight as 2016 Output Jumps Gabriel Stargardter - Reuters
go to original April 21, 2017

For the first time in at least a decade, Mexico's army is allowing the United States and the United Nations to observe opium poppy eradication in its golden triangle of narco-states. (Wochit Politics)

The United States has offered to help fund Mexico's efforts to eradicate opium poppies, the U.S. assistant secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) said on Friday, as Mexican heroin output increased again last year.

"We would be prepared to support (opium eradication efforts) should we reach a basic agreement in terms of how they would do more and better eradication in the future," William Brownfield of INL, part of the State Department, said in an interview.

"That is on the table, but I don't want you to conclude that it's a done deal, because we still have to work through the details," he said, without specifying how much money the United States could provide.



The United States is in the midst of an opiates epidemic that has killed tens of thousands of people, and with much of its heroin coming from the mountains of Mexico, the issue has become a key topic of discussion between the Mexican government and the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The U.S. offer to help fund Mexico's war on poppy cultivation stands in stark contrast to Trump's threats to rip up the North American Free Trade Agreement and force Mexico to pay for a wall along the U.S. border, and reveals the more subtle discussions taking place between the two governments.

Read the rest at DailyMail

Related: ‘Another Round of Whack-a-mole’: Decoding the White House’s Tough Talk on Cartels (ThinkProgress)

Related: DHS’s Kelly Takes Hard Line on Pot in Major Speech, Closing Ranks with Sessions (McClatchy)

Related: AG Sessions: Marijuana Network a ‘Significant International Criminal Organization’ (The Washington Times)

Related: Philippines President Duterte’s Drug War Pales in Comparison to the Americas’ (blogwatch)

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!