Caribbean nations call for support in anti-drug fight

The Caribbean anti-drug summit ended in the Dominican Republic on Friday, calling on the international community to support the region's anti-drug fight.

Leaders of the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Haiti, and Trinidad and Tobago agreed to intensify their efforts to fight drug trafficking, money-laundering, kidnapping and other organized crimes, said a declaration issued at the end of the summit.

Jose Miguel Insulza, secretary-general of the Organization of American States, joined the leaders in their call for the international community to support their anti-drug trafficking actions.

The leaders promised to improve information sharing and police collaboration, to boost efforts in intercepting smuggling by land, air and sea, and to establish an office in each nation to carry out the summit commitments.

"We all feel that drug-trafficking has increased recently in the region, permeating our societies, and causing violence, criminality and instability," said Dominican President Leonel Fernandez at the opening of the summit.

"We have also recently seen a kind of inattentiveness to drug- trafficking in the region," Fernandez said, citing a Miami University study stating that the United States reduced its Caribbean anti-drug forces by 62 percent following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

The United States also reduced its boats, speedboats, planes and helicopters in the region by 30 percent, he said.

Haitian President Rene Preval said the only way to win the war on drugs is with a world-wide effort, adding that without international help, "the giants of drug trafficking will swallow us all in a single mouthful."

The meeting also saw representatives from the United States, Venezuela, Spain, France and the Netherlands.

Source: Xinhua