© 2002 U.S. Embassy Belize Press Releases November 10, 1999 THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT TO THE CHAIRMAN OF THE SENATE COMMITTEES ON FOREIGN RELATIONS AND APPROPRIATIONS AND THE CHAIRMEN OF THE HOUSE COMMITTEES ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND APPROPRIATIONS. Dear Chairman: In accordance with the provisions of Section 490(h) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, I have determined that the following are major illicit drug producing or drug transit "countries" (including certain entities that are not sovereign states):
Afghanistan, The Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Hong Kong, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Taiwan, Thailand, Venezuela, and Vietnam. This year I have removed Aruba and Belize from the majors list; added Belize as part of this year's Central America region of concern; added the entire Eastern and Southern Caribbean, including the Leeward and Windward Islands, Aruba, and the Netherlands Antilles, as a region of concern; and also added North Korea as a country of concern. I wish to make clear that the inclusion of a country or entity on the majors list does not reflect an assessment of its government's counter-drug efforts or extent of cooperation with the United States. For example, among the reasons that a transit country or entity is placed on the majors list is the combination of geographical, commercial, and/or economic factors that allow drug traffickers to operate despite the most assiduous enforcement measures of the government concerned. In the case of Hong Kong and Taiwan, for instance, both entities have excellent counter-drug records and cooperate closely with the United States. | |
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