‘There is no Petro anti-drug plan’: María Elvira Salazar, US congresswoman

The president of the Subcommittee for the Western Hemisphere in the US House of Representatives, María Elvira Salazar, raised strong criticism this Tuesday against the new anti-drug policy of President Gustavo Petro.

“The empirical evidence is overwhelming. The numbers speak for themselves. There is no Petro anti-drug plan. His Government ‘combats’ drugs by forgiving drug traffickers and not criminalizing their cultivation, as he has done in more than one public statement. “Whoever tells you another story does so only to distract from the complete failure of this socialist Administration,” Salazar told this newspaper.

His reaction coincides with the visit to Washington of the Minister of Justice, Néstor Osuna, and the Director of the Police, William Salamanca, who traveled to the US capital to present the strategy.

The minister and the director of the Police had a meeting this Tuesday morning in Congress in which several committees of the House of Representatives that are relevant to Colombia were cited.

(Read also: Why does the United States assure that Colombia is cooperating in the fight against drugs?)

Among them the one presided over by Salazar. This newspaper was able to confirm that the legislator was not at that meeting. Nor was Representative Mario Diaz-Balart, who is the chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee for Foreign Operations and a constant critic of President Petro.

Diaz-Balart made an impact a few months ago by promoting a budget for foreign operations for the coming year that for the first time it does not include resources for Colombia.

(Keep reading: Exclusive: The United States would certify Colombia’s performance in the fight against drugs)
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Osuna and Salamanca had another meeting scheduled for this Tuesday night with some US senators.

SERGIO GÓMEZ MASERI
EL TIEMPO correspondent
Washington
On Twitter @sergom68