Presidential Determination on Major Drug Transit or Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries for Fiscal Year 2021
Record date: 2020-09-25
( printed page 60351) Presidential Determination No. 2020-11 of September 16, 2020 Presidential Determination on Major Drug Transit or Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries for Fiscal Year 2021 Memorandum for the Secretary of State By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including section 706(1) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003 ( Public Law 107-228 ) (FRAA), I hereby identify the following countries as major drug transit or major illicit drug producing countries: Afghanistan, The Bahamas, Belize,
What this record contains
- Federal Register document
- 2020-21390
- Publication date
- 2020-09-25
- Citation
- 85 FR 60351
- Issuing office
- Executive Office of the President
Official record excerpt
( printed page 60351) Presidential Determination No. 2020-11 of September 16, 2020 Presidential Determination on Major Drug Transit or Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries for Fiscal Year 2021 Memorandum for the Secretary of State By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including section 706(1) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003 ( Public Law 107-228 ) (FRAA), I hereby identify the following countries as major drug transit or major illicit drug producing countries: Afghanistan, The Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Burma, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. A country's presence on the foregoing list is not necessarily a reflection of its government's counternarcotics efforts or level of cooperation with the United States. Consistent with the statutory definition of a major drug transit or major illicit drug producing country set forth in section 481(e)(2) and (5) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended (Public Law 87-195) (FAA), the reason countries are placed on the list is the combination of geographic, commercial, and economic factors that allow drugs to transit or be produced, even if a government has engaged in robust and diligent narcotics control measures. Illicit drugs inflict enormous harm on the health and safety of the American people and threaten the national security of the United States. While my Administration has achieved steady progress in stemming the tide of our country's drug epidemic, transnational criminal organizations continually challenge our success by violating our borders and flooding our homeland with these deadly substances. The United States is taking the fight to these criminal organizations and their enablers on an unprecedented scale. This April, I initiated the most significant counternarcotic operations in decades targeting the illicit drug trade in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific by deploying U.S. military assets to U.S. Southern Command in cooperation with 22 international allies. These operations led to the seizure of more than 80 metric tons of cocaine and other dangerous drugs, depriving transnational criminal organizations of more than $1.8 billion in profits and putting drug kingpins on notice that they are squarely in the crosshairs of the United States. The most complicit kingpin in this Hemisphere is the Venezuelan dictator, Nicolas Maduro. This March, a U.S. court indicted Maduro for narcoterrorism and conspiracy to smuggle cocaine into the United States. In response, the U.S. Department of State announced a $15 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction. He joined a multitude of other regime cronies who are either under U.S. indictment or were sanctioned for drug crimes by the Department of the Treasury. The United States will continue to support the Venezuelan people, Interim President Juan Guaido, and the democratically elected National Assembly, and will work together with the legitimate Interim Government of Venezuela to stop drug trafficking and root out the criminal elements that have exploited that country. Maduro's illegitimate narco-regime should face justice for its crimes. ( printed page 60352) While bringing criminals like Maduro to justice remains an urgent priority, the United States also needs other governments in the Western Hemisphere to assume greater responsibility for reducing illegal drug supplies. In Colombia, President Ivan Duque and his government remain strong partners of the United States, and Colombian police and military forces have shown great bravery and commitment by targeting high-level drug traffickers, interdicting drug shipments, and manually eradicating coca. Nevertheless, coca cultivation and cocaine production remain at unacceptably high levels. To reach our shared 5-year goal to reduce coca cultivation and cocaine production by half by the end of 2023, Colombia must move forward with resuming aerial eradication, which remains an irreplaceable tool in the government's arsenal alongside manual eradication and alternative economic development. It is also of great concern that coca cultivation and cocaine production remain near historical highs in Peru, another longstanding U.S. ally. Peru is a valued law enforcement partner of the United States and has demonstrated continuing commitment to fighting all aspects of the drug trade. I call on the Peruvian government to resume eradication operations in the country's high yield coca producing regions, including the Valley of
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