Latin American Leaders Call for the Decriminalization of Drugs

A number of current and former Latin American presidents called for all drugs to be decriminalized during a three day United Nations summit held this week in New York.

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The session, called UNgass, ran from Tuesday to Thursday and showed deep divisions remain between member states over narcotics policy.

As teleSUR reported on Thursday, Bolivian President Evo Morales called on the U.N. to develop a more humanistic approach to combating the production and use of illegal drugs.

During his speech, the Bolivian leader and former coca farmer criticized the militarized approach to drug eradication efforts, arguing that they have proven to be “ineffective” and harmful with respect to safeguarding human rights.

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Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto proposed legalizing marijuana for medical purposes and easing limits for personal use of the drug.

"Fortunately, a new consensus is gradually emerging worldwide in favour of reforming drug policies. A growing number of countries are strenuously combating criminals, but instead of criminalizing consumers, they offer them alternatives and opportunities," Nieto told delegates during his address.

Former Colombian President César Gaviria Trujillo told officials at the session that the United Nations' aim of a “society free of drug abuse” is “unrealistic, totally naive, almost stupid.”

The comments from Latin American leaders, past and present, contrast deeply with calls from a representative from Indonesia who was booed when he suggested capital punishment must be “an important component” of drug policy, a statement backed by nations such as China.

Billionaire Richard Branson branded the United Nations' drug policies “fatally flawed from the beginning,” saying it may “already be too late” to save the international drug law system.

U.N. member states are required to impose prohibitionist policies banning narcotics use, a model promoted by the U.S., which many world leaders argue has proven to be “ineffective and counter-productive."