By Matthew Walter
Feb. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuela is serving as an increasingly frequent
transit zone for drug traffickers to ship Colombian cocaine, undermining
counter-narcotics efforts in neighboring countries, the top U.S.
intelligence official said.
The situation will likely continue, as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
remains ``unengaged'' in trying to halt the flow of drugs across his
country's borders, Michael McConnell, Director of National Intelligence,
told the Senate Intelligence Committee today.
``Chavez's lack of counter-drug cooperation undermines efforts by other
countries, particularly Colombia, by giving traffickers access to
alternative routes and transit points,'' McConnell said, according to a
transcript of his statement.
Chavez will likely continue to push his ``anti-U.S., radical leftist''
agenda that appeals to the poor in Latin America, McConnell said.
Leaders in Bolivia, Nicaragua and to some extent Ecuador are following
the lead of Venezuela and Cuba in trying to increase presidential powers
and promote ``economic nationalism'' over free markets, he said.
Venezuela's top drug enforcement official, Nestor Reverol, said Jan. 22
that U.S. criticism of the country's efforts to curb trafficking is
politically motivated and aimed at discrediting Chavez.
Elsewhere in Latin America, McConnell said, the ``gradual consolidation
of democracy remained the dominant trend.''
Cuba's acting president, Raul Castro, who took over governing duties
from his ill brother, Fidel, in 2006, may try to make economic changes
to increase agricultural production and attract foreign investment,
without ceding the Communist party's control, McConnell said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aQOCBjVZXNok
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