Re-thinking security and drugs in the Americas:
the Guatemalan proposal for decriminalization and beyond
Introduction by Benedicte Bull, Director at Norwegian Latin America Network
21 March
Litteraturhuset, Oslo
A NorLARNet seminar organized in cooperation with the Embassy of Guatemala.
The newly elected Guatemalan president Otto Pérez Molina recently called for a new policy for regulating drugs. This would include decriminalizing transit, production and consumption of currently illicit drugs as a means to combat the activities of the powerful drug trading organizations that each year claim thousands of lives in Guatemala and its neighboring countries. Guatemala is now attempting to form a regional coalition in favor of this, and will bring it up at the upcoming summit of heads of State in the Americas in Colombia.
At this meeting, the Ambassador of Guatemala, Juan León, will present the Guatemalan government’s initiatives to combat drug-trafficking and violent crime, including the proposal for decriminalization. This will be followed by presentations by Ivan Briscoe, researcher (Clingendael, Netherlands) and expert on organized crime and security in Latin America on the potential implications of a new regional regulation of the drugtrade; Paul Larsson, Professor at the Norwegian Police Academy and expert in drug trafficking and organized crime on experiences with different forms of regulation of the drug trade; and Nils August Andresen, editor of the journal Minerva, on the general state of the debate on legalization and decriminalization.
Programme
Guatemala’s new security policy and its proposal for a new regulation of drug-trafficking
Juan Leon,
Ambassador of Guatemala
The current situation of violent crime in Guatemala: would a regulated decriminalization of drugs make a difference?
Ivan Briscoe,
Senior Research Fellow,
Clingendael, The Netherlands Institute of International Affairs
De-criminalization of drugs: what do we know about its costs and benefits
Paul Larsson, Professor, Norwegian Police Academy
A new regulation of the drug-trade: the state of the debate
Nils August Andresen, Editor, Minerva)
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