WASHINGTON — Spiraling drug violence in Mexico, narcotics trafficking elsewhere in Latin America and a thriving opium trade in Afghanistan pose significant security threats to the United States, the Obama administration said Friday.
In its annual survey of global counter-narcotics efforts, the State Department painted a grim picture of the situation in Mexico, where government attempts to fight traffickers are hindered by rampant corruption. The battle between authorities and drug cartels killed more than 6,000 people last year and more than 1,000 so far in 2009.
Mexico is the main transit point for cocaine entering the U.S. and a source for much of the heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine. The report praised Mexican President Felipe Calderon for “courageous” and “unprecedented” steps to combat drug trade but noted corruption plagues the effort.
At the same time, it said that Calderon’s successes might be responsible for fueling the surge in violence as drug lords battle one another and take on Mexican security forces.
The report also detailed a spike in narcotics trafficking through Bolivia and Venezuela, particularly as the government of neighboring Colombia continues to crack down on the trade. Still, it said, Colombia remains the source of nearly 90 percent of the cocaine entering the United States.
The report criticized Bolivia and Venezuela, both of which are led by leftist presidents with anti-U.S. sentiment, for failing to cooperate in the war on drugs.
The report also found that despite efforts, Afghanistan remains the world’s largest producer of the opium poppy, the precursor to heroin.
The report was compiled while President George W. Bush was in office but was signed off on by the Obama administration.
