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MODERATOR: (In progress) And we have three briefers today: John P. Walters, Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy; Thomas A. Shannon, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs; and David T. Johnson, Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.
We're going to start out with Director Walters and then Assistant Secretary Shannon and then we'll go to Assistant Secretary Johnson. And we do have posts in Costa Rica, Panama y Honduras with us as well, so we're going to let them have a couple of questions as well. So please be patient and we'll go from there.
MR. WALTERS: Good afternoon. I'm pleased to be joined by my colleagues from the State Department. We are also very pleased that we are on the verge of launching a much more robust and capable cooperation with Mexico, Central America and Dominican Republic and Haiti as a part of the Merida proposal.
We want to thank members of Congress for doing the right thing here and helping us strengthen cooperation that has been growing for the last several years, but now can be taken to a level of robustness that we hope will be able to match some of the great threat that we have seen in these countries and in the United States.
In enacting the Merida Initiative, members of Congress realized that: first, immediate action was necessary, and action consistent with the doctrine of shared responsibility between the consuming and producing countries; secondly, that never have we had such unprecedented partnership, especially with Mexico, but also with many of the countries of Central America, of which this is a part, and the Caribbean.
The bipartisan effort to enact this legislation shows, I think, the widespread understanding of the urgency and the possibility here, that doesn't require either partisan bickering or delay, even in a year where we are going through, as President Bush said yesterday, an election, we can come together for important matters. And it speaks well, I think, of the leadership in Congress, and we want to thank them all.
On the United States side, this initiative will coordinate action across departmental lines in the United States Government. It brings together efforts by the Department of Justice, DEA, and the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Bureau. For the Department of Homeland Security, multiple agencies there will also participate in some of these efforts, both inside the United States and internationally, and continue to strengthen. The Department of Defense, the Department of Treasury, and of course, the Department of State, will be major contributors to this effort from the federal government. We are forging and strengthening a comprehensive effort against crime, violence, terrorism and, of course, with our domestic agencies, the consumption of these substances in the United States.
We are attacking the problem as never before, led by the brave efforts of President Calderon and the institutions of the Mexican Government. 2008 Mexico spending estimated $4 billion dollars to fight organized crime itself. President Calderon is reforming military and police institutions, especially criminal justice institutions, and regaining strength in fighting the cartels and the violence that has been financed by the drug trade, and at a serious cost. Merida will make both of our nations more secure. The U.S. and Mexico are equal partners in sharing the objective of destroying the cartels that work to destabilize justice and security. They are responsible, as you know, for heinous acts of violence and terror, and bringing drugs and poisons into the hemisphere in both the United States and south of our country.
President Calderon has the strong support of the Mexican people in this effort, with popularity exceeding 60 percent. But the trafficking organizations have shown they will stop at nothing to try to undermine institutions of justice wherever they can reach them. And the continuing efforts against them, their wealth, their violence, and their - their attempts to subvert rule of law will require determined effort. We could not ask for better partners in this important work. Our national security interest is to support our partners in the fight against drugs and bringing rule of law and of helping to counter not only trafficking, but also gangs and gang-related violence that plagues all countries affected by this initiative.
We need to begin immediately. Mexico has been bleeding from the trafficking organization's attempts to stop the government efforts to bring rule of law. The attack on basic institutions has been aggressive since President Calderon has taken the steps he has. Mexican - Mexico City police Chief Edgar Millan and Deputy Public Security Secretariat Igor Labistida Calderon are the most recent high profile victims of the assassination attempts by these groups.
Our cooperation is ongoing, but the timely delivery of equipment and information will be of paramount to confront the violence that has taken nearly 4,000 lives since the inauguration of President Calderon. We must show our friends and neighbors that we are serious about helping to control the challenge to sovereignty in the region. The assistance must be transparent and rapid; the confidence-building measure that both the Government of Mexico and Central American people will, I think, be pleased to be a part of and will allow them to see what we are doing together to strengthen institutions of common concern.
We also understand that shared responsibility means we have that responsibility to reduce demand, consumption, the dollars that consumption gives to trafficking. We have received - pursued this aggressively since, in 2007 alone, cocaine positives as measured by the workplace testing programs throughout the United States, with millions of tests at about 19 percent. 2007 levels of cocaine use in the workplace were the lowest since measuring began in a comprehensive fashion in 1997. Methamphetamine positives dropped 51 percent between 2005 and 2007, and marijuana positives have dropped 29 percent since 2000, to 2007.
We have more to do. We need to reduce that as rapidly as possible. But for the first time, I think, in modern U.S. history, both supply reduction and demand reduction are working in tandem in very powerful forms. That bodes well for both consumer countries like the United States, and the producer countries where dollars are turned into violence and attack on the rule of law. Our challenge is to take this opportunity and turn it into a beneficial change of - of startling proportion for the peoples of our countries. We're honored, again, to have those partners. Now, I'll turn over to my colleagues.
MODERATOR: Assistant Secretary Shannon?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY SHANNON: Good afternoon. Director Walters hit the high points of the Merida Initiative, why it's important to us and why it's important to our partners in the region, especially Mexico, the countries of Central America, and the Dominican Republic and Haiti. I just want to briefly touch on a couple of the points he made. The first is that of partnership. This was an initiative that really was constructed in a collaborative way, based off the President's trip to Latin America and Mexico in March of 2007. We were able to establish with our partners in Mexico and Central America a new form of engagement and dialogue that allowed us to fashion an assistance program which is much more than assistance program. It's really a program of cooperation and collaboration that has the security assistance component to it.
The second point is that of shared responsibility as we face a shared and common challenge. And as Director Walters noted, you know, that we recognize that demand for drugs in the United States is an important driver behind the threat that countries in the region face from organized crime and drug cartels. This is an important step forward for us. I think it's an important step forward in the region. And it creates, I believe, a level of trust and confidence that will allow this collaboration to move forward in a successful fashion.
And I just want to close my remarks by underscoring that the Congress, by moving forward on the supplemental, did the right thing. And we're very grateful to our many partners in the Congress that we've worked with on this, especially their willingness to recognize the urgency of the threat. This threat is real. The democratic states in the region are threatened by organized crime and drug trafficking cartels. And the courage that the leaders in the region have shown in facing this threat is dramatic. It's important. But also, the courage that the people of Mexico and Central America have shown, and their willingness and their ability to recognize the threat that their democratic states face is also an important component of this. And we want to be in a position where we can help these countries help themselves by building their institutions and building their capacity to protect their democratic state.
Thank you. David?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY JOHNSON: Thank you, Tom. Everything has been said, but perhaps it hasn't been said by everybody. I'll try not to remedy that. I would want to identify myself with the - some of the remarks that Director Walters and Tom said, particularly our gratitude to the Congress for working so carefully and closely with us and for being so generous in helping us move forward with this program. A special thanks from my part, since I worked with them, mostly to our appropriators Congresswoman Lowey and Senator Leahy and their staffs for their help.
This is truly a national security program for the United States and for the - for Mexico and the countries of Central America. It is a step - not just a step change in our work with them as partners. We will increase our engagement and our assistance by the full order of magnitude with this program, on a per annum basis. And it allows us to really begin to make a difference by working as partners with the countries in this region.
As Director Walters said, it will engage the full panoply of United States law enforcement agencies and institution-building agencies in the United States. In addition to the ones he mentioned, agencies as disparate as the United States Postal Service will play a role in this, as will our Agency for International Development and the states, particularly those that border Mexico, which have particular interest and have particular skills to bring to bear. I look forward to working with my colleagues in Washington, but especially with our colleagues in the region as we bring this program online. And as Director Walters said, to bring it online as quickly as we possibly can. Thank you.
MODERATOR: If you would please state your name and the news organizations before asking your question. And also, let us know who you're addressing the question to. If we could have the principals come to the podium, that would be best.
QUESTION: Jose Diaz-Briseno with Reforma newspaper from Mexico. This is a question for Secretary - Assistant Secretary Johnson, but if the others would like to comment, that'd be great. How would you measure success of this initiative? What is the goal? You're developing a matrix of measurements during this process; will success be measured by the number of extraditions to the U.S., by lowering the, you know, the captures of drug dealers? I don't know - what are measurements that you're developing at this time?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY JOHNSON: We're looking a wide range of issues as we see how we measure our own success. First and foremost is how rapidly we can bring these programs online and make them effective in Mexico and in Central America, how powerful they can be in providing the countries in the region with the tools that they need in order to address the very real threat that they have to their institutions and to their people.
As times goes on, we would expect the issues that Director Walters mentioned, in terms of impact of drugs in the United States, to be measurably different. I wouldn't want to put an X on a calendar as to when that might take place, but I think it will - it will be something that, of course, our - the appropriators in the Congress will be asking us to come to them very quickly on. I wouldn't necessarily consider extraditions as a numeral indicator of how well or how poorly we're doing. That's a quality of the relationship that we have and a trust that we have in each other's justice institutions more than anything else. And that's a relationship that is flourishing already.
QUESTION: (Inaudible.)
ASSISTANT SECRETARY JOHNSON: Absolutely.
QUESTION: Other indicators that you have?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY JOHNSON: Well, I think that - that seizures are of course one measure, but really, the target here is not - not to up the amount of seizures, it's to assist our partners and help them build institutions so that the organizations themselves can be taken down and destroyed and no longer be a threat to either them or to us.
QUESTION: Ruben Barrera - Notimex, Mexico. This is a question for Mr. Walters and Mr. Johnson, also. Both of you talk about the necessity to implement this program as quick as possible. I wonder, what is the next step? I mean, what is - did you have a timeframe when you expect to have these resources going to Mexico and Central America, or, I mean, is this a bureaucratic process that is going to take some time?
MR. WALTERS: Some of the things are going to be done more quickly. Again, as Secretary Shannon mentioned, this has been a collaborative process. It's somewhat unique in that, in that Presidents Bush and Calderon talked about this first. Both - in fact, President Calderon brought up the need to include Central America and some of the related countries, so we have been working with them. It's not a matter of somebody can see something here that has to now be determined whether or not it's actually going to work in the partner countries. This has been a collaboration. So we're hoping to - I can't tell you exactly when. The legislation asks us in 45 days to report back to Congress an implementation plan, but we hope to be able to pull this forward.
Some of the adjustments that I'm aware of that we are going to do with regard to Mexico is a result of the fact that the Mexican Government has been moving ahead aggressively. So, some of the things that were in the original plan may have to be adjusted as a result of the fact that they've already been moved forward. We have a second part of this plan that is - has request for support in the 2009 appropriations bill for the State Department and other related agencies. We'd like to move that forward as well. We also have ongoing programs at a low, smaller dollar amount that are moving forward now to help implement - especially programs in Mexico, but even some of the other countries.
So you could say that this is a rolling process. Some of it's already going on. The additional money we hope to be able to finalize plans for in the next several months, if not earlier. If we can do it sooner, we'll release it sooner. So I think we're all, as we've said, concerned about the urgency of the threat now. And we want to get those resources in the hands of the people on the front line.
MODERATOR: Okay, now we're going to go to Costa Rica for a question. Costa Rica, are you ready?
QUESTION: Yes, we are. My name is Juan Fernando Lara. I'm from La Nacion newspaper, and my question is for Mr. Shannon. The United States announced yesterday $152 billion dollars in order to finance the army for the next year in the Middle East conflict. That conflict is highly unpopular in the United States and - on the other hand, you have 60 --$565 million dollars per year for this region to combat the drug trafficking, a problem affecting Americans. And how can you explain the big budget difference between both the scenarios? The drug problem is filtered to you and to us and has been there for decades.
And something else - does the Merida Initiative include any survey from the United States Government in this region? Are you going to travel more often to this part of the world to survey the implementation? And what, other than money, can you give us? What other instrument are you seeing in this initiative so we can take advantage of?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY SHANNON: Thank you very much for the question. In regard to the first part of the question, supplemental requests tend to cover a wide range of activities, and this supplemental request is - is no different. There were a variety of requests, all of importance to our government. The important thing to note, though, is that when something is put into a supplemental request, it means first that it's important, and second, that it's urgent. And in regard to the money going to Central America, which is $65 million dollars, it is a significant increase in terms of the amount of money we're spending in the fight against counter drugs at this point in time. And if - if you look ahead, especially to the 2009 budget request, we've asked for an additional $100 million, and we will have a third tranche in our budget request for 2010 that's still being worked out. So I think at the end of the day, it will become evident that within Merida, Central America will play an important role and will receive an amount of money and cash that will be significant in terms of the threat that it faces.
In regard to traveling to the region, obviously I travel to the region a fair bit. And I certainly hope to get to Central America in the near future. But more importantly, a lot of the work in terms of evaluation of what we're doing in the region will be - come from our embassies, who are already well-staffed. So we believe that we're in a good position to work with our partners in the region and to understand better how effective we are as - as we move ahead with the Merida initiative.
In regard to what else we have to bring, I think Director Walters highlighted that a big part of the issue is really going to be here in the United States as we address demand and as we improve our interagency cooperation, especially on our southwest border, to better interdict drugs, but also to address the issue of gun trafficking moving from the United States into Mexico and Central America, but also how we address money laundering issues and especially the transfer of bulk currency. And so we're going to be doing a lot on this end as you do a lot on your end.
MODERATOR: Okay. We have another question from Panama.
QUESTION: Yes. This question is for Secretary Shannon. Could you please tell me, have you asked that certain requirements to be met by the countries which have benefited by the Merida plan?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY SHANNON: I'm sorry, could you repeat the question?
QUESTION: Have you asked that certain requirements should be met by the countries which are benefit by the Merida plan?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY SHANNON: There are no political requirements in order to participate in the Merida Initiative. As we worked with our partners in Mexico and our partners in the Central American integration system to devise this plan, what we were focused on was the shared nature of the challenge and the shared responsibility we face. And we recognize that, for instance, in the case of Central America, all of the members of SICO (ph), the Central American Integration System, faced, in one fashion or another, the same kind of threat from organized crime and drug trafficking, and also from gang violence and weapons trafficking. And we recognized that this was a regional threat, and therefore we needed to have a response that was regional in nature. And therefore we're not in position, or - nor is there a willingness to try to divide - to develop conditionality as to whether or not people participate in this. The purpose was to be inclusive.
MODERATOR: We have one more question from our participants participating via DVC -- Honduras. Honduras, are you ready?
QUESTION: We're ready. This question is for Assistant Secretary Shannon. This is Andrea Brouliette Rodriguez, a political counselor, and I am speaking on behalf of the dozen or so journalists that we have in the room. They would like to know how the U.S. Government sees the work of the Government of Honduras in the fight against narcotrafficking, and if you could please expand on the role of the U.S. Air Force base at Soto Cano, Palmerola, in the Merida Initiative. Thank you.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY SHANNON: Honduras is an important partner in our fight against drug trafficking in Central America, and Director Walters and Assistant Secretary Johnson might want to comment also on the role that Honduras and other Central American countries have played in this. I mean, there are frequent interdictions in Honduras. We have a good relationship with the Honduran security services, so we believe that this is a relationship that is important and useful.
In regard to the U.S. presence in Soto Cano or Palmerola, it's - our presence there plays an important role for a variety of purposes, not only in our relationship with Honduras, but more broadly in Central America. And this is especially true for humanitarian-related issues - rescue-related issues and disaster relief and assistance.
And -- but what's important to understand about Merida, especially in Central America, is that it is really focused on civilian institutions. It's focused on public security ministries. It's focused on police. And it's focused on the ability of ministries and police to communicate within their governments and among themselves. And so this is really about institution building in the civilian sector, and that's where the primary focus of Merida money in Central America will go.
MODERATOR: Okay, Gregorio.
QUESTION: Gregorio Meraz from Televisa, Mexico. Recently, President Calderon and (inaudible) have expressed their concerns because they believe that maybe while Mexico is doing its best to -- in the struggle against the drug smugglers, U.S. is not capturing the big smugglers. They are asking, where are the kingpins in the U.S? Is there any policy or strategy to solve that problem?
And I also would like to ask you, what is the next step in the Merida Initiative? Are you having contact with Mexican authorities and Central American authorities to start what needs to be done?
MR. WALTERS: To the first part, we began -- this Administration creating what was called a consolidated priority targeting list. That is, we take the major trafficking organizations as they affect the United States globally, and look at, from their harvest support structures to retailing in the United States, what we know about their makeup and then turn both federal law enforcement resources and -- we're working with foreign partners - their support. But also state and local law enforcement here on those structures. We've done this through task forces at the state and local level, through efforts at the border as well as the distribution centers inside the United States.
We target many of these groups now in a more systematic way, looking at the drug structures as businesses as well as criminal organizations. They have to move money, have to sometimes move chemicals, have to have transportation infrastructure, distribution structures as well as command and control. We've been targeting those more systematically. In fact, the reducing of those in number and in their power is a measure that we have used in a variety of dimensions, including in what we do with foreign partners.
So, yes, we have created these so-called CPOT targets throughout the Administration. Every year we look at what's been - who's been removed, which ones have been - have fully been dismantled or been weakened in size, and then we put new structures on. So we will continue to share that information with partners more robustly. And the goal is, of course, to not allow borders to be a hindrance to going after these structures.
And I think what you see with the - what you know are the reports of decline and availability of methamphetamine especially, but also cocaine in the United States, is the additional pressure that was added in Mexico from cocaine production in Colombia, the pressures in the transit zone have changed the availability and contributed to some of the declines in youth. So we want to accelerate those and that's the way we have targeted those structures and we'll continue to do so.
On the issue of planning and moving forward, as I think all three of us said, the planning for the proposal was a partnership and so we'll make some adjustments and then move forward. That's why we're very hopeful we can do this pretty quickly.
MODERATOR: We had a question submitted from Haiti. For those listening from Haiti and other Caribbean nations, what does the U.S. hope to accomplish through this initiative in other countries?
A PARTICIPANT: Well, generally speaking, what we have seen, in fact, if you look at - if you take a longer view going back over a decade now, most of the - especially cocaine, came up to the United States through the Caribbean. That was the original effort. We thought most of the entry point was in the Florida and Miami area. There are notorious organizations and structures that were led by Colombian criminals inside the United States into New York and major cities of the United States - Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago. We attacked those structures and worked with Caribbean nations to cut down the flow, especially by small aircraft, into both the United States directly and intervening islands. That prompted some of the shift into Central America up through the isthmus of Central America and into Mexico and southwest border, which we're now struggling with.
Our goal of this whole proposal is to get ahead of the potential movement, work in Central America as well as we've been working in South America. And of course, there has been renewed air traffic, principally from Venezuela into Haiti and the Dominican Republic. So we hope to work with those governments to strengthen their capacity to attack that flow as well as the organizations that have grown up there and are being financed by this flow that are an increasing threat to those governments.
MODERATOR: We have a question up here in the front from Sonia Schott. No? Okay. You're going to defer. Betty Brannan.
QUESTION: No, no.
MODERATOR: Oh, yes, okay. You didn't look prepared, I'm sorry.
QUESTION: I'm sorry. Okay, thank you. Sonia Schott, Radio Valera, Venezuela. My question is for all of you. It's open. Do you expect any connection between the plan Merida and the Plan Colombia at some point, a kind of plan for the whole region, including South America? Thank you.
MR. WALTERS: Well, I think we see this as a continued growth and our partnership with the countries that are affected, especially Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. We've been working, of course, with the strategy that we've been more intensely involved in Colombia, but also in Peru and Bolivia. And we have also been working, of course, with Ecuador. We've had both trade and counternarcotics assistance in a variety of forms that have been a part of that effort and we think have been important. So we see this as building, I think, the cooperation that we've had into more of the areas that have been affected and begin to be able to work in the places where the traffickers are working and hopefully continue to reduce their ability to harm those governments that are our neighbors, as well as our own citizens.
QUESTION: But (inaudible) and Colombia?
MR. WALTERS: Well, again, we didn't construct the - I mean, again, we didn't construct the plans in an abstract exercise where we had one plan and we created another plan. These are direct relationships that have become both more important and more capable and robust that we are now putting resources into, as the partners are, in the case of Mexico. President Calderon is putting vastly more resources into this effort than is involved in this particular contribution by the United States, even though it's historic in its size and relationship that we're establishing.
But our goal is to respond to that threat in the context of this partnership. And, yes, we have been pleased to see the greater cooperation within the hemisphere - the countries of Central America have been working more cooperatively with not only the United States, but with Mexico. In fact, President Calderon was the one who brought up the need to include some of the other neighbors in the hemisphere. We've also seen Colombia working with Mexico. We've seen the Central American countries as well as Caribbean and South American countries meeting together on these issues, both trilaterally and multilaterally. And I think that - the goal is to make the institutions of law to the different nations be able to work together against a common threat of lawlessness and terror. So this is exactly the kind of trend that we want to support.
But it wasn't as a result - I guess, my response to you is that we didn't sit in a room together and say, well, let's have this plan and that plan and another plan. This has been organic from the leadership of the people in the partner nations and the efforts that have developed over time. And I think that also makes it more powerful because it's not about trying to have a plan that's one-sided or that isn't fitted to the desires of the democratic governments we're working with.
MODERATOR: Betty, I promised you a question, go ahead.
QUESTION: Yes, thank you. My name is Betty Brannan and I write for La Prensa of Panama. And I'm looking for specifics regarding Panama. What exactly is the role of Panama in this plan? How much money is being allocated to Panama? What has - what support has the Government of Panama offered? And especially, are you looking to create new facilities in Panama, particularly along the border with Colombia? Thank you.
MR. JOHNSON: The portion of this initiative, and not a plan, if I could make a correction to the earlier exchange, was, in the case of Central America, was not country specific. In fact, it was crafted specifically and with a purpose to encourage cooperation throughout the region. So we have not allocated funding equally among Central American countries or in any way yet. We are going to work further with our Central American partners as we develop how this plan is going to be implemented in each country. So I would -I think I -- one thing I'd steer you way away from is any sort of country-by-country allocation in Central America. In fact, we're going to work very hard to craft the programs so that they provide an incentive for countries to work together, because this is a threat, as Director Walters is indicating that -it crosses borders. And we need to work together so that we're crossing borders. And it's not a situation where the borders are useful to the narcotics traffickers and a stop sign for legitimate law enforcement, but a method by which law enforcement can work cooperatively back and forth across frontiers in order to confront this threat.
MODERATOR: Okay, Julio.
QUESTION: Thank you. Julio Marenco from La Prensa of El Salvador. I know you said you don't have specific amounts for every country. But what can, for example, the Government of El Salvador can expect from this plan in terms of amounts of money or cooperation or any form that this plan is going to take?
MR. WALTERS: Well, I think, as the earlier answer just indicated, we've not set a specific amount, country by country, but we have received initiatives and requests from those governments through our embassies as putting together this package. And again, it has multi-year parts. This was the first part, the $65 million for Central America and for the two countries in the Caribbean as, I think as Assistant Secretary Shannon mentioned earlier, we requested $100 million in the fiscal year budget. That actually will begin October 1st. We'd like to see that move forward as rapidly as possible as well.
So the combination of components here will allow us to strengthen the ability to combat the threats as they have evolved. But we have some initial structure to these individual country programs, but we'll - we need to go back now, since it has been some time since we've submitted them, and forge them into the actual program parts of the initiative.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY JOHNSON: If I can just add one thing. There is a - in the case in particular of Salvador and Guatemala, there will be a particular emphasis on anti-gang program funding because that's a threat that we share with you, both here in the United States and in your country as well.
MODERATOR: We have a question up at the front, Gonzalo.
QUESTION: Thank you. Gonzalo Espariz from the Germany news agency. Do you think you're going to be able to present some kind of results before the end of this Administration? Thank you.
A PARTICIPANT: Yeah, I would say, first of all, it's important to note that the context here is different from what we have seen in the past in working in a variety of areas on international drug control problems. We have already seen results affecting the availability of key drugs (inaudible) in the United States as a result of the combined effort already going on in Colombia, the cooperation that we've had in many of the Central American countries with regard to seizures as well as some of the key Caribbean countries and with Mexico. The changes that we've seen and the availability, especially with methamphetamine and cocaine have been quite stark and unprecedented, as I pointed out in my comments. So this isn't one of those things where, in terms of use and availability of these poisons in our communities, you have to say, well, we'll get something going and then maybe we'll see whether it works. It's working today. The goal is not to get something working. The goal is to accelerate its power and its success, and also to broaden it to be better able to control, as was earlier mentioned, the money going to pay these assassins in Mexico, the money that goes to buy guns and the guns that flow into Mexico to arm individuals to kill people defending law and harming innocent civilians.
So, we're going to look at this - all of our drug control effort, as the Government of the United States, focuses on reducing use, first and foremost. We understand that is the fundamental center of gravity for our work.
Secondly, we're looking at the structures that affect supply and demand, in specifics: prevention, treatment, intervention in the case of demand, and then the production, the transportation and the distribution of drugs and the constant supply. And one of the areas - that's why it was touched on earlier - we can measure is how many - we have knowledge - not perfect knowledge - but pretty extensive knowledge about these groups, we want to destroy them as rapidly as possible with the partners that we have to bring them to justice, apprehend them, break up their capacity to be as powerful, if you will, take those who are now and today wolves and to break them down into cockroaches. They'll be slightly more of them, but they're not as dangerous, they're not as destructive, and they can be handled with more of a typical law enforcement response and not a national security response. I think that's what we've seen in terms of the power of some of these gangs inside the United States that have been - still are a similar problem but have been weakened in some of their power. And also what we've seen, for example, even in Colombia where we have worked with the government there to attack the structures that were, in the old days, the Medellin and Cali cartel, and now are increasingly on the run from the Colombian Government.
So the goal is not just to chase them around the hemisphere, but to break them down systematically with a broad enough area of operation -- what we think this additional effort gives us and allows us to build on --that I would point out, again, has already changed the dynamic for the better.
QUESTION: Speaking of Colombia -
ASSISTANT SECRETARY JOHNSON: If I could just add to this briefing also. I mean, this is a three-year initiative as announced by the President. So obviously, we have envisioned this as something that has continuity and sustainability across administrations, whoever comes next. And I think what's important to note is that at the end of the day this initiative had broad bipartisan support in the Congress. And the supplemental vote of 92- 6, I think, underscores that. So we're happy with that.
We're going to work very, very hard, as Director Walters noted, you know, to continue what we're doing and to make sure we implement what we have and get the money that we have out the door as quickly as possible. But obviously, this is something that will build a bridge into the next administration.
MODERATOR: Okay, Vanessa.
QUESTION: Speaking of Colombia again, I want to ask a question to Mr. Walters. In the recent report that the United Nations say that in Colombia has increased the amount of cocaine growth. How do you understand that in order to think or to understand that the Plan Colombia is working, so it is working or no? It's having problems -- what are the problems that it's having now? What are the new programs that you are expecting for the next year and how do you think that there is, like another alternative for the drugs - for the war on drugs?
MR. WALTERS: Well, I'm not sure I understand what the alternative - but let me just say, I don't think there's any question that the efforts that Colombia is making are working. That's why the groups that have been a source of threat and power are weaker. That's why murderers and massacres and kidnappings are going down. That's why the paramilitaries have demobilized, that's why the FARC is weaker, that's why the government is stronger. And the people of Colombia support those efforts just because the overall effort is changing the dynamic for the better and the people who used to be powerful because of the money thrown off by cocaine and kidnapping and murder is less because of the actions of the government. We're proud to stand with President Uribe's government and the people there who have - and continue to pay the sacrifice to make those achievements move forward.
On the specific UN estimate, it's not my place to be commenting about UN instruments here, but let me just say two things about the problem of measuring the crops under this kind of dynamic pressure. We've had our own efforts using skills that our government had to create estimates. It's been hard because in the past, these have been based a kind of fixed profit, it didn't change because people weren't putting the kind of pressure that's going on now. What's happening now is the Colombian Government, through both aerial and manual eradication, as you know, is attacking or destroying huge percentages of the overall estimated crop, no matter whose estimate you use. So we have an issue where there's sometimes replanting, sometimes they're smaller plots, sometimes they have been moving.
We believe that the aggregate effect is probably, if you look at all the indicators, less ability to produce the actual cocaine, whether that's because they're having to kind of plant more and get less or whether the measures are precise. We can't tell you precisely, but I do think that the - I know the reporting and the presentation of some of the UN estimates suggest that despite all, it looks like a promising movement forward -- there's more of it. I don't believe that's true. And I think when we've talked with the technical people at the UN, they believe that this estimate used higher resolution imagery, allowed them to see things they hadn't seen before. So it wasn't that they found new things, they just found out that their old estimate was off and it comes in closer conformity. I think there estimate is now in closer conformance with what we've done. But I admit, it's not perfect.
But the previous estimate the UN had was just unrealistically low, I believe - if you want my personal opinion. And now they've begun to make some technical changes. Unfortunately, it's been presented as a, well, now there's more. There's not more. There's - it's harder to grow. It's more difficult. There's less money. The FARC deserters that are coming in, in growing numbers, don't have shoes, don't have food, have torn uniforms. They're killing their own officers because they're tired of being starved in the jungle. That's not somebody sitting on top of a cocaine money machine of old; that's somebody whose system is breaking down over it. And we still have more to do. There's still cocaine being made. But I do think that the concerns some of you had, oh this shows that what we thought was success isn't, is incorrect and, I think, manifestly incorrect.
MODERATOR: Next question, Nestor.
QUESTION: Thank you. Nestor Ikeda, Associated Press reporter for Latin America. I understand the final package. It was approved by the Congress, passed two elements that the U.S. Administration didn't expect. One is the expansion of the numbers - the countries that are to receive the money. And the other one are the conditions the Congress linked to that 15 percent of the sum allocated for Mexico, that means around $60 million. And my question is: If you are happy with that - with those insertions, especially with the linkage of those $60 million for Mexico to the State Department reports on the human rights and transparency in other fields?
MR. WALTERS: We think after some difficult debate, the cooperation between both the executive and the Congress, and I think also between members of Congress and some of the parliamentarians, especially in Mexico, have helped create a series of provisions that will allow us to go forward with broad support.
And I personally met with over 40 members of the House and Senate. I met with no one who was opposed or didn't understand the urgency of this. They have some different views about some of the structure. And I think some of that is reflected in the final package. The expansion to the two Caribbean countries, I think is useful and we don't object to. And I think the final package is important to the Administration, as the President said, an enormously helpful and important move forward. And again, I would emphasize what Assistant Secretary Shannon said, this is a multi-year effort. So we're not - this is not a one-time effort. This is something we hope will be sustained. We're looking for action on the second part of the three parts that are called for. And I do believe we've always said we understand there needs to be accountability, there needs to be structure. There need to be structure that reflects the sovereignty concerns, which is sovereignty concerns and reflects the political realities of the countries. We think the final package does that and we're pleased that the process produced something that it's gotten such widespread support.
MODERATOR: Well, thank you all for being here. We certainly appreciate it and we hope that you'll be back.
