COMMENTARY

Absence of regional action justifies DEA office in Guyana

by Sir Ronald Sanders, a former Caribbean diplomat, now corporate executive, who publishes widely on small states in the global community

Tuesday, January 3, 2006

The Guyana government is reported to be considering the establishment of a presence in Guyana of the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

This announcement was made by the Head of the Presidential Secretariat in Guyana, Dr Roger Luncheon.

In making the announcement Dr Luncheon appeared to concede that the local drug and law enforcement agencies need help in combating the scourge of drug trafficking that has plagued not only Guyana but practically every country in the Caribbean. 

There is no shame in this.

The resources of the drug traffickers are simply much greater than the meagre resources of small countries which must allocate such resources to delivering a wide range of goods and services to its citizens including health care, education, roads and other infra structure. 

Governments of small countries cannot match the amount of money that drug traffickers can spend. The international drugs industry – for that is what it has become – is probably second only to oil and gas in the scope of its reach and the scale of its resources. 

Governments of rich countries, such as the United States, cannot cope on their own either. If the US could have successfully fought the battle against the traffic in narcotics within its own borders, it would have no need to extend its reach into other countries.

But the US takes the position that the battle against drugs is better fought by cutting off the supply from outside countries, rather than trying to stop the demand within its own country. 

In a sense, the US position is helpful to countries in the Caribbean because drug trafficking has become a major scourge within the Region itself. It is now believed that drug trafficking is the single largest contributor to the increase in violent crime which is evident throughout the area. 

It has led to an increase in illegal firearms, to ritual executions, to turf wars between rival drug trafficking gangs, and to kidnappings, On another side, the creation of a drug habit amongst the local populations, especially young men, has also spurred increased robberies of both homes and businesses.

More than any other phenomena, drug trafficking in the Caribbean has destabilised the Region, and if it continues to foster crime at an increasing pace it will frighten away foreign investment as much as it will panic local people to move abroad.

The Region, therefore, needs help to cope with drug trafficking, and a relationship between the Guyana and US governments to tackle the problem in Guyana may indeed be necessary now.

The US Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement in its 2005 report described Guyana as “an easy transit point for cocaine trafficking from South America to the U.S., Europe and the Caribbean”. It said: “Crimes believed linked to narcotics trafficking are on the rise in Georgetown and the informal economy (believed to be fuelled by drug proceeds) is suspected to be between 40-60 percent of the formal sector”. 

The terms of the arrangement between Guyana and the US will be problematic.

For instance, what powers will be given to the officers of the DEA? Will they be accountable to the Commissioner of Police in Guyana or will they be an independent body? Will the officers enjoy immunity for their actions in Guyana? How long will they be present in Guyana? And, who will pay their costs?

These are questions that no doubt the Guyana government is debating with the US, for while US assistance is clearly needed to fight the problem, the framework in which such assistance is given should not lead to resentment from local law enforcement officers or to legal challenges.

But, for all that, the problems posed by an arrangement for a DEA presence on Caribbean territory are not insurmountable.

There is already in the Region experience of agreements with the US on dealing with drug trafficking. Guyana could draw on this experience.

For instance, the Bahamas has signed a Comprehensive Maritime Agreement to provide US law enforcement officers a legal framework for their operations, and the seven Eastern Caribbean States have maritime law enforcement agreements with the US that allow ‘hot pursuit’ of drug traffickers in territorial waters of an Eastern Caribbean State by the US coast guard.

The sad thing about all this is that Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) countries did not collectively negotiate agreements with the US and other countries for assistance in coping with the illicit traffic.

Of even greater concern is that while agreements have been signed with the US government allowing for US activity in Caribbean territories, CARICOM countries have not established agreements among themselves for local police and coast guards to pursue traffickers in each other’s waters.

What this points to is the weakness in the joint governance system of CARICOM. 

The problems of drug trafficking and crime have been on the CARICOM agenda for years, and comprehensive reports have been submitted by expert groups with firm recommendations for a CARICOM architecture to deal with crime.

There has long been a proposal for the creation of a CARICOM rapid response force with cross-territorial law enforcement powers. But, so far no action has been taken.

In this connection, countries, such as Guyana, faced not only with the increasing problem of drug trafficking and crime within its borders, but also with the strong disapproval of the international community, cannot await Caribbean-wide action.

To both cope with the challenges of drug trafficking at home and to meet the concerns of powerful countries upon whom it relies, small countries like Guyana are compelled to contemplate agreements such as allowing the US DEA a presence in its territory.

As the Caribbean enters 2006 with the break-up of the West Indies Federation now 44 years behind it, and the integration process now 38 years old since the formation of the Caribbean Free Trade Agreement (CARIFTA) in 1968, it is time that solutions to national problems be sought in a regional context, particularly where the problems, such as drug trafficking, are also shared regionally.

The alternative is a continued dependence on external agencies in critical areas of national and regional life, and a continuous show of the hollowness of national independence. 

(responses to: ronaldsanders29@hotmail.com) 

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