The Minister of the Interior, Nicolás Martinelli, sealed the agreement with representatives of the US ministry.
The government signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to strengthen mutual commitment in the fight against drug trafficking, as part of the strategy to strengthen the relationship with the USA.
After the repeated request of the administration headed by the president Luis Lacalle Pou so that the DEA reopens an office in Uruguay, The signature of the agreement can be read as one more step to strengthen ties between both countries.
In that sense the journey of the Minister of the Interior, Nicolás Martinelli, who toured the North American country and sealed the cooperation agreement in Washington with DEA leaders. “This certifies the mutual commitment in the fight against drug trafficking,” she said.
Regarding the relationship with the organization, Martinelli assured that “the joint work, which we have carried out since 2020, allowed us to make the relationship official and strengthen ties to intensify the exchange of information and carry out joint operations within the framework of the legislation in force in both countries.”
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Despite the cooperation, the DEA does not plan to return to Uruguay
Beyond the different gestures between the governments of Uruguay and the United States, the DEA He has no plans to return to the country, after leaving in 2019. In principle, North American diplomatic representatives clarified that a reopening process is “not planned.”
As it turned out, in the US organization the main concern is the fentanyl, that arrives in that country from Mexico. On the other hand, they assure that the amount of cocaine that circulates from the country to US territory, which conspires against the return of the DEA.
Despite this refusal, within the framework of the Second Annual Bilateral Interministerial Dialogue co-chaired by the Foreign Minister Omar Paganini Last February, both countries agreed to “redouble efforts to combat transnational crime and the impact of drug trafficking on citizen security.”
Source: Ambito
