As War on Drugs Continues, So Too Does the Battle of Perceptions

Last week Venezuela’s Minister of the Interior, Tareck El Aissami, publicly denounced a July 20 report released by the US Government’s General Accounting Office (GAO) which labeled his country as “one of the major drug transit countries in the Western Hemisphere”.

The struggle over public perception between Washington and Caracas continues. The US government states that the amount of cocaine passing through Venezuela more than quadrupled from 2004 to 2007. President Hugo Chávez considers the GAO report, as well as the accusations of his government’s failure to stop human trafficking, as nothing more than political tools of the United States. In turn, he also criticizes the US as being the largest destination for cocaine.

Who is one to believe? Each side may have valid points.

The July 20 GAO report can be found here, with a response by Venezuela’s Embassy in the United States posted here.

The 2009 Trafficking in Persons Report can be found here, along with the Chávez administration’s critique.

The Venezuela Information Office releases statements on behalf the government in Caracas, and according to its website “is dedicated to informing the American public about contemporary Venezuela, and receives its funding from the government of Venezuela.” More of its viewpoints, including a previous opinion piece labeling US drug reports as “a political weapon”, can be found at: www.rethinkvenezuela.com.