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P 021715Z APR 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY LIMA PRIORITY

UNCLAS STATE 032018 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PE PGOV PREL SNAR
SUBJECT: FY2010 DEMARCHE/OBJECTIVES FOR THE MAJORS  LIST 
REPORT TO THE GOVERNMENT OF PERU 
 
¶1. This message is an action request 
(Paragraphs 7, 8 and 9). 
 
¶2.  Summary and Action Requested.  This message provides 
guidance for posts to engage the host country through 
a demarche on USG narcotics control objectives.  This 
process is in connection with the State Department 
coordinated annual narcotics Majors List process, the 
requirements of which are contained in Section 760 of 
the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, FY 2002-2003 
(FRAA), signed into law on September 30, 2002.  The 
FRAA makes permanent the "failed demonstrably" standard 
used in FY 2002 FOAA for "majors list" countries.  The 
FRAA also consolidates the identification of the 
"majors list" countries with the old "certification" 
process into a single report, and is reported to 
Congress no later than September 15 of the prior 
fiscal year.  The INCSR is still due March 1 each 
year. 
 
¶3. The Department has closely coordinated with the 
interagency community to craft suggested benchmarks 
for countries on the "majors list" that will help 
Peru to meet its international and bilateral 
counternarcotics obligations.  Paragraph 7 contains 
suggested general Majors List process talking points; 
and suggested country-specific counternarcotics 
benchmarks are listed in paragraph 9 of this cable. 
Paragraph 8 sets forth the applicable legislative 
criteria which post may draw on to help the host 
government understand the legal requirements and 
background of the Majors List process, and paragraph 
11 summarizes the major themes of the new U.S. 
National Drug Control Strategy, including market 
disruption and demand reduction efforts. Reporting 
requirements added under the provisions of the 
Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act (CMEA), which 
modified Section 489(a) of the Foreign Assistance 
Act of 1961, as amended, and Section 490(a) of the 
FAA are handled through a separate telegram. 
 
¶4. Post is requested to provide a diplomatic note 
or a non-paper, to be drafted based on the 
information and proposed talking points below. 
Department recommends a presidential-level demarche, 
if possible.  Please advise Department of results, 
upon presentation of the demarche, of host government 
views and counternarcotics initiatives and include 
text of the diplomatic note or non-paper.  Presently 
the 20 countries on the Majors List are Afghanistan, 
The Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma, Colombia, 
Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, 
India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, 
Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela. End Summary. 
 
¶5.  The Majors List demarche process enables the 
USG to present its priority counternarcotics 
objectives to the major drug-transit and drug 
producing ("Majors List") countries.  These 
objectives are based on the requirements set forth 
in U.S. law, and the National Drug Control Strategy, 
and focus on the particular narcotics issues in 
the U.S. relationship with individual host 
governments.  The suggested country-specific 
benchmarks in para 8 also reflect issues of 
concern to the interagency. 
 
¶6.  Department recommends that post report 
regularly on counternarcotics progress.  (This 
reporting may be included in monthly 
counternarcotics reports.)  In early June 2009 
Department will ask post for a report card 
assessing progress on U.S. and host country 
objectives in preparation for the interagency 
process leading to the FY 2010 Presidential 
majors list determinations on September 15, 2009. 
 
¶7.  Suggested General Points: 
----------------------------- 
 
-- U.S. law defines the majors list mechanism, 
but we believe the process of articulating clear 
counternarcotics objectives enhances our 
bilateral relationship and moves both of our 
countries closer to meeting international 
goals for controlling illicit narcotics 
trafficking and associated transborder crime. 
 
-- U.S. efforts to curb its own drug consumption 
problems are highlighted in the President's 
"National Drug Control Strategy," the 
International Narcotics Control Strategy Report 
(INCSR) and other U.S. policy documents on 
drug control. 
 
-- It is our objective to keep you informed 
on our progress in that regard.  However, 
our domestic policies cannot succeed while 
drug criminals operate with impunity around 
the world. 
 
-- Cooperative anti-drug programs have proven 
their value, and the most powerful defense 
against the drug trade is political will -- 
if political will is weak, corruption soon 
sets in.  Corruption undermines the rule of 
law, puts democratic government in jeopardy, 
and sabotages cooperative efforts against 
drug trafficking. 
 
-- Our actions and statements are consistent 
with the goals of the 1988 UN drug convention, 
and are pursuant to U.S. domestic legislation 
on certification (see below). 
 
-- We would like to engage with you in a dialogue 
regarding our counternarcotics objectives for the 
near term, and to present counternarcotics benchmarks 
that, if met, will be given due consideration by 
the U.S. in evaluating compliance with the goals 
and objectives of the 1988 UN convention and our 
bilateral counternarcotics agreement.  We will 
continue our dialogue with you on this subject 
throughout the year. 
 
-- The USG, within budgetary limitations, will 
seek to be as responsive as possible to your 
government's requests for drug control assistance. 
 
-- However, the USG's assessment of a country's 
counternarcotics performance is independent of 
levels of U.S. bilateral counternarcotics 
assistance to that country. 
 
¶8.  In making reference to statutory requirements 
for the Majors List, the following language is 
recommended to post: 
 
-- Under U.S. law each country identified by the 
President as a major illicit drug producing or 
drug-transit country is subject to the annual 
Majors List process, whereby the president 
determines, based upon overall counternarcotics 
performance, whether the country has "failed 
demonstrably" during the previous 12 months to 
make substantial efforts to adhere to their 
obligations under international counternarcotics 
agreements and take the counternarcotics measures 
specified in U.S. law. 
 
-- The Majors' List determinations are made by 
the President upon the recommendations of the 
Secretary of State, with input from other 
concerned USG agencies. 
 
-- In order not to be found to have "failed 
demonstrably," a country must take meaningful 
and committed actions against narcotics 
trafficking and related criminal activity. 
Key criteria considered in the Majors List 
process include: 
 
(1)   Accomplishments in areas identified in 
the 1988 UN drug convention: 
 
-Cultivation/manufacturing; 
-Consumption/demand reduction; 
-Trafficking; 
-Illicit crop eradication/Substitution; 
-Interdiction and law enforcement cooperation; 
-Asset seizure; 
-Extradition and mutual legal assistance; 
-Drug treatment; 
-Control of precursor/Essential chemicals; 
-Money laundering. 
 
(2) Accomplishing goals described in any 
applicable bilateral narcotics agreement 
with the United States, or a multilateral 
narcotics agreement. 
 
(3) Preventing and punishing public corruption, 
especially by senior government officials 
that facilitates the production, processing, 
or shipment of drugs and other controlled 
substances, or that discourages the 
investigation or prosecution of such acts. 
 
(Post may wish to note that the third aspect 
of performance, i.e., dealing with drug-related 
public corruption, as evaluated in the 
counternarcotics certification process, is also 
the subject of a separate provision of U.S. law: 
section 487 of the FAA prohibits the USG from 
allowing FAA and Arms Export Control Act 
assistance to flow "to or through" an individual 
or entity convicted in the U.S. or in a foreign 
country of a drug-related offense, or that we have 
reason to believe is or has been an illicit drug 
trafficker or "a knowing assistor, abettor, 
conspirator, or colluder with others in the 
illicit trafficking in any such substance.") 
 
-- We are very interested in efforts to improve 
regional cooperation and regional activities to 
support the goals of the 1988 UN drug convention. 
We will consider such activities and initiatives 
as we evaluate performance. 
 
-- While the President makes his Majors List 
determinations based on a country's compliance 
with all aspects of the 1988 UN drug convention, 
our bilateral agreements, other multilateral 
agreements, and the elimination of corruption, 
there are specific areas of interest that we 
will highlight during the Majors List process. 
To further clarify our objectives, we have 
grouped many of the goals of the 1988 UN drug 
convention into the following categories in 
order to facilitate our bilateral discussion 
and analysis: 
 
(1) Drug production and cultivation 
     Article 3.1 (a); articles 12-14; 
(2) Possession and demand reduction 
     Article 3.2; 
(3) Drug transportation and distribution 
     Article 3.1 (a), (c); Articles 15-19; 
(4) Drug precursor substances, equipment and materials 
     Article 3.1 (a); Articles 12, 18; 
(5) Drug proceeds and confiscation 
     Article 3.1 (b); Article 5; 
(6) Law enforcement 
     Article 3.6; 
(7) Extradition and mutual legal assistance 
     Articles 6-7; 
(8) Legislative measures 
     Articles 3-8; Articles 9-19. 
 
 
¶9. Suggested Country-Specific Counternarcotics 
Demarche Benchmarks: 
 
A)    Post is asked to deliver the following 
Peru-specific counternarcotics benchmarks to 
senior GOP officials and report responses via 
front channel cable no later than April 25. 
The demarche should be consistent with the 
goals and objectives of the most recent 
bilateral narcotics control letter of agreement. 
 
B)    Summary of Demarche Issues 
 
The USG encourages the GOP to continue its 
focus on core commitments to eradication, 
interdiction, and alternative development to 
reduce coca cultivation and cocaine production. 
The GOP's five-year counternarcotics plan 
reflects this emphasis on control and 
interdiction of precursor chemicals, drug 
seizures, reduction in coca cultivation, 
enforcement of money-laundering laws, demand 
reduction, and improvement of local economic 
conditions by introducing development alternatives 
to reduce dependency on coca cultivation. 
The GOP should continue its efforts to expand 
counternarcotics police presence east of the 
Andes.  Positive steps should be taken to 
secure conclusion of negotiations on 
maritime operational procedures for 
counterdrug and migrant interdiction. 
 
C)    Demarche 
 
Drug Production and Cultivation 
--------------------------------------- 
 
--The GOP should reduce illegal coca cultivation 
in Peru through continued programmed eradication 
reducing hard-core areas and coca expansion zones. 
Eradication should be at the same or better 
rate than in calendar year 2008, recognizing 
that reduced assistance resources available 
from the United States may be a limiting factor. 
 
--The GOP should continue efforts to locate 
opium poppy cultivation and eradicate all poppy 
found. 
 
Chemical Control 
---------------- 
 
-- Since Peru is a major importer and producer 
of precursor chemicals used in cocaine production, 
the GOP should continue to work on developing 
a chemical users' registry, which is needed to 
fully implement the precursor chemical control law. 
 
--This should be coupled with aggressive 
monitoring of end-use and interdiction efforts 
to stop the diversion of precursor chemicals 
for illicit drug processing purposes. 
 
Money Laundering, Asset Forfeiture, and 
Anti-Corruption 
---------------------------------------- 
 
--Using recent legislative authorities, the GOP 
should develop and implement a national anti-money 
laundering strategy, including prosecution of those 
involved in laundering money.  The strategy should 
identify functional and legal causes for delays in 
prosecutions and initiate actions to remove such 
barriers. 
 
--The GOP should implement asset forfeiture 
legislation to increase seizures of narcotics-related 
assets, and establish mechanisms to convert these 
assets for use in counternarcotics and other law 
enforcement efforts. 
 
-- Full and fair investigations should be conducted 
when allegations of corruption involving law 
enforcement officials are made, with full 
prosecutions when indicated. Corruption should 
be robustly and impartially addressed. 
 
Interdiction and Law Enforcement Cooperation 
------------------------------------------- 
 
--Through the PNP Basic Training Academies the 
GOP should train new counternarcotics police 
graduates from the region east of the Andes, 
to provide security for coca eradication 
initiatives and carry out interdiction operations. 
 
--This buildup in manpower will require a 
commitment on the part of the GOP to provide 
financial resources and backing to establish 
the viability of these new officers, thereby 
ensuring future operational success. 
 
--The GOP should continue to seize illicit coca 
leaf and illegal precursor chemicals through 
repeated interdiction operations.  The GOP should 
strive to increase seizures of illicit drugs and 
precursor chemicals in coca production zones by 
10 percent above FY 2008 levels. 
 
--The GOP should provide adequate resources 
for drug interdiction capabilities in Peru's 
Callao and Paita seaports through maritime 
shipping container inspection programs, including 
the National Cargo Manifest Review Unit, as well 
as supporting cargo inspection canine teams in 
Callao, Paita, and at Lima's international airport. 
 
Development Initiatives 
----------------------------- 
 
--The GOP should take a leadership role in 
furthering post-eradication alternative 
development efforts. 
 
--The GOP should increase its infrastructure 
investment in the coca growing valleys to 
facilitate greater market access for alternative 
development products. 
 
Demand reduction 
---------------------- 
 
--The GOP should expand its efforts to reduce 
drug abuse by intensifying efforts to 
educate the Peruvian public about the threat 
of narcotics trafficking to society and 
democratic institutions via active public 
awareness campaigns nationwide, particularly 
targeting the most vulnerable members of society. 
 
¶10. During the process of delivering demarches 
for the U.S. Majors List process, some governments 
may raise questions about the Multilateral 
Evaluation Mechanism (MEM). 
 
The MEM process, which has been in operation for 
some 10 years, is a system of peer review of 
hemispheric actions to control illegal narcotics 
by OAS member states. Administered by the 
Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission 
(CICAD), the MEM is now in its fourth Round 
for the preparation of reports in the general 
thematic areas of institution building, drug 
awareness and demand reduction, illegal drug 
supply reduction and alternative development, 
control of pharmaceutical and chemical substances, 
law enforcement, control of firearms and measures 
to control money laundering. 
 
Taking into account considerable differences in 
the state and effectiveness of drug control 
among participating countries, the MEM process 
has produced noteworthy results from the most 
fundamental objective of actually creating a 
national drug control body (roughly equivalent 
to the U.S. Office of National Drug Control 
Policy) and establishing standard guidelines 
for the treatment of addictions, to the 
development and implementation of complicated 
new legislation to enhance controls in areas 
such as money laundering, firearms and chemicals 
and pharmaceuticals. 
 
The U.S. recognizes the MEM as a mutual process 
which has clearly matured and is steadily gaining 
momentum and prominence as a way to bring OAS 
countries together in the common effort to 
control illegal narcotics.  In concert with 
its other 33 partners, the U.S. will continue 
its support to the MEM as a cost-effective way 
to counter criminal activity associated with 
the illegal drug trade.  The U.S. encourages 
all states participating in the MEM to provide 
the fullest support possible to ensure on-going 
advancement of the process. 
 
¶11. Post may also draw upon the following 
information excerpted from the U.S. "National 
Drug Control Strategy" in order to brief host 
country officials on the status of USG demand 
reduction efforts at home: 
 
The United States Government has pursued an 
ambitious, balanced strategy to reduce drug 
use among Americans. Since 2001, current use 
of any illicit drug by youth in grades 8, 10, 
and 12 has dropped by 25 percent.  Pursuing a 
strategy focusing on stopping initiation, 
reducing drug abuse and addiction, and 
disrupting the market for illegal drugs, 
there are now 900,000 fewer teens using 
drugs than there were in 2001.  This is 
real progress, and U.S. international 
counterdrug efforts must act to sustain, 
accelerate, and broaden this success. 
 
The President's FY 2009 drug control budget 
seeks to maintain this momentum by increasing 
funding levels for drug programs throughout 
the federal government.  The Administration 
has asked for a FY 2009 drug control budget 
of $14.1 billion, an increase of $459 million 
over the 2008 enacted level of $13.7 billion. 
Demand reduction programs will maintain 
support for innovative approaches targeting 
prevention, early intervention, and drug 
treatment.  Funding for supply reduction 
programs will support operations targeting 
the economic basis of the drug trade, domestic 
and international sources of illegal drugs, 
and trafficking routes to and within the United 
States.  The budget includes increased 
resources to aid counternarcotics efforts in 
Afghanistan while following through in Mexico, 
Central America, and Colombia and the Andean 
region. 
 
For more information of the U.S. National 
Drug Control Strategy and recent drug 
news go to: www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov 
 
¶12. Further action:  To reiterate, please 
note that this message on the majors list 
countries requesting appropriate demarches 
to the host countries will be followed by 
a request from INL/PC for a "report card" 
telegram from each country (specific 
guidelines will be provided) as to the 
country's drug control performance in 
accord with U.S. law, with a due date in 
June 2009.  This reporting will then feed 
into to the annual inter-agency certification 
process for FY2010, led by the Department 
of State and culminating in the President's 
Annual Report to Congress on the List of 
Major Drug Transit or Major Illicit Drug 
Producing Countries. 
 
 
CLINTON