Gobierno de Reconciliación y Unidad Nacional
Unida Nicaragua Triunfa
MESSAGE FROM THE GOVERNMENT OF RECONCILIATION AND NATIONAL UNITY
AT THE “LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN CONFERENCE: TOWARDS A DRUG POLICY FOR LIFE, PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT”
Cali, Colombia, 9th September, 2023
Mr. Gustavo Petro Urrego
President of the Republic of Colombia;
Mr. Andrés Manuel López Obrador
President of the Republic of Mexico;
Mr. Álvaro Leiva Duran
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia;
Mrs. Alicia Bárcenas
Secretary of Foreign Affairs of
the United Mexican States
Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Heads of Delegation.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
1. I am pleased to convey the message of the President of the Republic, Comandante Daniel Ortega and Comrade Rosario Murillo, Vice-President; of the Government of Reconciliation and National Unity and of the Dignified and Heroic People of Nicaragua.
2. We appreciate this extraordinary initiative promoted by Presidents Gustavo Petro and Manuel Andrés López Obrador.
3. Our special gratitude to Ministers of Foreign Affairs Álvaro Leiva and Alicia Bárcenas and their Foreign Ministry teams, to Vice Minister Elizabeth Taylor Jay, who with that Raizal island wisdom and patience, knew how to successfully conduct our preparatory work.
4. As a Creole Nicaraguan, with a Raizal grandfather from the Island of Providence, as an official of the Government of Nicaragua, I take this opportunity to express the will shared by our Raizal and Creole peoples to advance in understanding and family unity, leaving behind the abominable history of the separation of our families and our Raizal and Creole peoples.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
5. This Meeting has the theme "Towards a drug policy for Life, Peace and Development"; therefore, we can glimpse a clear vision of the human approach to this phenomenon in all its complexity.
6. Worldwide, they refer to an unprecedented increase in the manufacture of cocaine and the expansion of synthetic drugs to new markets.
7. The United Nations World Drug Report calls for the mobilization of the International Community to adopt urgent protection measures, strengthen prevention and treatment of drug use and deal with the supply of illicit drugs.
8. Nicaragua is a State Party to the three international drug control treaties and is committed to International Cooperation in favor of a Comprehensive and Balanced Strategy to Counter the World Drug Problem.
9. We are consistent with the determination to confront the world drug problem, move towards a society free of its misuse, guaranteeing our People to live with Health, Dignity, Peace, Security and Prosperity.
10. We are convinced that international cooperation, in response to the different aspects of drugs, must be addressed in accordance with the Purposes and Principles of the Charter of the United Nations, International Law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; with full respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of States, the principle of non-intervention in internal affairs of States, all human rights, fundamental freedoms, inherent dignity of all humans and principles of equal rights and mutual respect between States.
11. Nicaragua has a National Strategy to fight against drugs, which has human beings as its axis, from which programs and policies have been generated, allowing attention to the specific circumstances faced by women and girls.
12. This strategy is implemented daily and inter-institutionally, through policies and actions aimed at prevention and care for youth to keep them away from consumption, as well as the permanent fight against international and internal drug trafficking.
13. Nicaragua is located in Central America, in a geographical area that has been used for drug trafficking. We are not producers or consumers, we have been victims of criminals who have taken advantage of this route through our region due to its geographical position.
14. In this context, we face multiple challenges. In a regional effort, we actively participate in the formulation of the Regional Inter-institutional Plan against organized crime within the framework of the Central American Integration System (PRICCO), which will facilitate the exchange of information and good practices, investigation and prosecution against drug trafficking, arms trafficking, human trafficking, money laundering and other related crimes.
15. Organized Crime and drug traffickers take advantage of the most vulnerable. In this sense, one of our main efforts are aimed at reducing poverty and extreme poverty.
16. As part of our strategy to confront these scourges, we work to reduce economic limitations, contribute to improving health, education, work opportunities and achieving a Decent Life.
17. We must join efforts under the Principle of Shared Responsibility and make an approach from all possible aspects, working with the governing institutions at the International Level.
18. In Nicaragua, the Policy of Sovereign and Citizen Security is oriented to protect the National Territory and Citizenship, promoting Peace, providing Tranquility and Stability to Nicaraguans in all areas of their lives.
19. Regarding illicit drug trafficking, the Preventive and Proactive Security Strategy is executed, prioritizing the Safety of People, Families and Communities.
20. Through the "Retaining Wall" Strategy, we permanently concentrate the greatest efforts in the confronting drug trafficking, organized crime and related activities. It constitutes the first strategic security ring that makes it possible to contain, divert and seize the greatest amount of drugs possible.
21. Among the most notable achievements of this Strategy is that drug trafficking has been forced to divert its drug trafficking routes, taking it away from our coastlines, while at the same time preventing transnational organized crime from settling in our territory, as a result of a joint effort of the Institutions in charge of prosecuting crime and applying the Law of our Country.
22. We address the Fight against Drug Trafficking as a State policy, as it is a transnational crime in which we must invest our scarce resources, to confront a criminal activity that neither originates nor has our territory as its final destination.
23. Ladies and Gentlemen.
Nicaragua invests large amounts of resources to prevent trafficking, resources that should be directed to other priority areas of development. In that sense, real commitment is required from large consumers. We reject the resource used for certifications and all forms of sanctions/aggression that affect our economies and impoverish our Peoples.
24. Nicaragua will continue to deal with the scourge of drug trafficking and organized crime with a focus on threats to Sovereign Security, Economic and Political Stability and Peace. For our Country it is a high priority issue because it undermines the State and the sustainable development of our Society.
25. We are confident that together we will find successful proposals to change the course of the history of our Countries in the face of this scourge.
Thank you so much.