Guatemala's Perez lowers expectations for drug legalization
(Read article summary)Regional disagreement means a decriminalization plan won't happen soon. But Guatemala's Otto Perez Molina maintains military response isn't the answer to drug trafficking.
• A version of this post ran on the author's blog, www.bloggingsbyboz.com. The views expressed are the author's own.
Some analysts got excited when President Otto Perez Molina announced several weeks ago that the Central American presidents would meet in Guatemala to agree to a decriminalization proposal prior to the Summit of the Americas. It was never going to be that easy.
Several of the region's leaders, most recently Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, have rejected Perez's proposal outright. Others, like Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes, were initially receptive but have backed away after seeing the political and public opinion reaction at home.
