The ambassador of USA in the country, Heide Fulton assured that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA, by its acronym in English) is collaborating with Uruguay, although for the moment he ruled out the possibility of installing an anti-drug agency office in the country.
The DEA office took place in the Uruguay until 2019, where the US government decided to remove it from the country for restructuring and budget reasons. Therefore, the office did not have the opportunity to generate contacts with the government of Luis Lacalle Pouwho began his term in March 2020.
This Tuesday, the ambassadors of USA He had a meeting with the president where they discussed issues of cooperation in security and the fight against organized crime. “We have discussed the possibility of strengthening relationships, operations and exchanges with the DEA”, established Fulton, who assured that the cooperative relations between the office and the Uruguay.
“We share the intention to successfully confront the threat posed by criminal organizations. So, on the part of USA “We are very focused on helping and supporting our Uruguayan counterpart in their efforts to counteract the operations of criminal networks,” explained the ambassador, who stressed that the DEA is already working with its national counterparts.
Fulton recalled that it is necessary to continue deepening collaboration and recalled that the DEA and Uruguay are already sharing “training, coaching, exchanging information to facilitate the operations of the Uruguayan authorities although he assured that there is much more to do.
However, the ambassador said that, for now, it is not in the plans to reopen an office of the DEA in it Uruguay, although he recalled that it is important to highlight that “the collaboration continues and we are going to continue deepening it, and we are going to carry it out at a stronger level.”
Heber’s insistence
The minister Heber said at the end of September, during a lunch of the Association of Marketing Managers (ADM), that “it is very important for Uruguay the information, the work and the collaboration that we have with the DEA.” Regarding this, he pointed out that it is done remotely because the closest office is located in the Argentina.
“It is not the same as them being here, and we have made efforts, passing messages of all kinds,” he said. Heber in the presence of the United States ambassador to Uruguay, Heide B. Fulton.
“Our police are reliable, they can be installed here,” the minister insisted, adding that from his portfolio he would be in charge of providing the pertinent security “for the level of information that this very important international agency provides.”
Source: Ambito
