Nineteen Latin American countries agreed this Saturday on a “road map” in which they commit to reaching a “regional consensus” in world drug problemdocument reached in the Colombian city of Cali as the conclusion of the Latin American and Caribbean Conference on Drugs.

“This is a historic event because we agreed chart a path to the future and define the stages in which we will seek to reach consensus on our positions,” Colombian Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva said at the closing of the conference after the announcement of the so-called “Final Document of Santiago de Cali.”

This is a document containing certain common positions and a way forward leading to a major summit of heads of state and government of Latin America and the Caribbean, a road map that “help reach regional consensus to solve problems what is needed in this day and age to solve the drug problem,” Leyva said.

The goal is to “build a common mindset and reach the 2025 international drug summit with a common vision,” explained Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena, who mentioned Bolivia’s proposal to “create a Latin American anti-drug alliance.”

The document contains 17 points, which, among other things, lists a number of obligations and the need to “change the paradigm, admit the failure of the war on drugs“.

And this was agreed upon by the authorities. from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Change the paradigm

“Reaffirms the need to comprehensively curb the global drug problem, as well as the structural and underlying causes of inequality, poverty, lack of opportunity and violence,” Bárcena explained.

Among those present at the closing of the conference, chaired by Colombian leaders Gustavo Petro and Mexican leaders Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in addition to Leyva and Bárcena, Foreign Ministers of Bolivia and Honduras.and the ministers and deputy ministers of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Cuba and Peru.

You might be interested > “Moral duty” in the fight against fentanyl: AMLO in Colombia

Despite acknowledging that “in some countries the expected results in the fight against the world drug problem have not been achieved,” the document shows respect for international conventions. “without abandoning international obligations to combat drug trafficking”.

But the need to move forward and reflect is shown collectively especially in specific aspects such as revaluation of plants used by ancestors, reduction in supply, social and health damage or environmental protection.

These countries are seeking to change their common voice to confront the world after what they see as decades of failed drug warwith perspectives on public health, prevention and decriminalization of farmers.

You might be interested > US accuses Mexico of ‘lack of will’ in face of fentanyl crisis

“We condemn the stigmatization of our farmers and migrants; They are not traffickers, they are workers in search of opportunity.“Barcena approves.

The conclusions were delivered to Petro and López Obrador, who arrived in Cali on Friday precisely to participate in this conference, which is the first step towards this great world summit. whose path do these two countries want to lead. (EFE)