Obama will Present his Posture About Cuba and the Fight Against Drugs in Cartagena

Presidents, Manuel Santos and Barack Obama

At the Summit of the Americas, President Barack Obama will defend his position about, he says that Cuba must meet the same democratic commitments than the rest of the countries to go to that forum, and that the idea of drug legalization is not the solution in the fight against drugs, explained two White House Officials on Wednesday.

In 2009, The General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) lifted the suspension that excluded Cuba from  the Inter-American System since 1962, and that country has not requested or expressed interest in returning.

The government headed by Barack Obama has launched policies “to help the Cuban people”, like the easing of travel and remittances to the island, “today the Cuban authorities continue to deny his people their universal rights”, he said in an interview while arriving to Cartagena.

Although it is not on the official agenda of the Summit, the debate on Cuba’s presence in the major event is one of the hot topics in the Cartagena meeting this weekend, after a failure to reach a consensus to invite the country Caribbean.

On the topic of war on drugs, “the U.S. position is very clear,” said, at the same conference the deputy national security adviser, Ben Rhodes.

For the Obama administration, “there is no panacea” for solving the problem of drug trafficking and its effects, but the decriminalization of drugs, as proposed by Guatemala, is not the solution and the “real challenge” now is the organized crime violence.

Before leaving for Colombia on Friday, Obama will stop in Tampa (Florida), where he will deliver a speech on the importance of trading between the U.S. and Latin America, according to the White House.

Already in Cartagena, on Friday evening he will attend a dinner with other leaders, including summit host, President Juan Manuel Santos. (ARL)