Samper Pizano speaks from his experience: ‘Descertification is not the end of the world’

The United States rebelified Colombia from the fight against drugs, That is, he removed his condition as an anti -drug ally. The decision was announced on Monday, September 15, 28 years after the country was last described. It happened during the government of former president Ernesto Samper Pizano (1994-1998), First in 1996 and then with the revalidation in 1997.

(Read more: the United States describes Colombia in anti -drug fight, but will not impose sanctions)

At that time, the ex -president was accused of receiving illicit drug trafficking funds for his campaign. That case was known as ‘the 8,000’ process.

After the determination on Monday, Samper Pizano reacted and assured that ‘the descertification is not the end of the world’.

“Colombia has already gone from a descertification and I can assure you that it is not the end of the world,” he added. He also highlighted what, for him, is an opportunity “to re -show internationally the high economic, social and institutional costs that we have paid for a problem that is not only our”

Requested to demand again “To consumer countries such as the United States and many in Europe that fulfill their commitment to reduce the demand for narcotics, precisely at a time when the consumption of drugs of plant origin has dropped and the devastating effects of synthetic drugs such as fentanyl and other narcotics that we do not produce that we do not produce are dropped“

He sentenced that, from his opinion, “The decision to discertify Colombia in its fight against drugs is illegal, political and regressive”

(Read more: Colombian military forces would stop depending on the US weapons)

The arguments of former president Samper Pizano

For former president Samper Pizano, The descertification is illegal “because no country is authorized to impose unilateral sanctions to another country or its nationals. Only the United Nations Organization can do so in established circumstances and in justified cases of need“

He said it was also Politics because it has always been used to punish countries that are considered ‘enemies’ of the United States: “The worst right -wing dictatorships have been benefited from the non -application of descertification while our country, which has paid high human and institutional costs, discertify it every time the Colombian government appears as ‘enemy’ of the United States government“

And argued that It was regressive in social and humanitarian terms “Because it relates to the most vulnerable sectors of the drug chain, such as peasants and indigenous people, a sanction that should begin by the control of their own markets that are generated and the great utilities of drug trafficking remain and remain. This decision coincides with the completion of the USAID programs in Colombia that supported initiatives such as the social and voluntary substitution of illicit crops in the hands of thousands of peasants, a policy that should be promoted with greater vigor”

The two descertifications that Samper passed on March 1, 1996 and February 28, 1997, During the president of Bill Clinton.

“The reiteration of the measure not only reaffirmed the previously imposed sanctions, but also amplified Colombia’s diplomatic costs in multilateral scenarios“The newspaper El Tiempo recalled.

In March 1998, El País was re -rtified again, with Clinton still in power. And in 2017, during the first year of the first Donald Trump government, it was indicated that “He seriously considered” Draft the government of Juan Manuel Santos due to the increase in coca production.

Drafter to the Petro Government

The arguments he gave The Trump administration To discertify the country, when a year of Gustavo Petro’s government remains, they were “Under Petro’s unfortunate leadership, coca cultivation and cocaine production in Colombia have reached historical levels. The United States thanks Colombian order and security forces that face drug traffments and praise their courage, their skills and sacrifices“

And he complemented that he “He has determined that the Colombian government breached its drug control obligations, but an exemption has been issued so that the crucial US cooperation, including anti -narcotics, can continue. The results matter: We must see progress and should be soon!”

A descertification could involve tariff increases of up to 10% for Colombian exports.

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Camilo Hernández M.
Portfolio Digital Editor