109 HCON 400 IH: Expressing the sense of Congress that the Government of Venezuela should actively support strategies for ensuring secure airport facilities that meet international certifications to prevent trafficking of controlled substances, narcotics, and laundered money.
U.S. House of Representatives
2006-05-11
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EN
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Whereas the United States is strongly committed to countries in Latin America that have a shared interest in promoting stability;
Whereas the United States is strongly committed to countries in Latin America that are combating the scourge of drugs and the violence and social degradation caused by narcotics trafficking;
Whereas the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is a party to the 1988 United Nations Drug Convention;
Whereas Venezuela is a key transit point for drugs leaving Colombia—the world’s primary source of cocaine and South America’s top producer of heroin;
Whereas drug trafficking through Venezuela significantly increased in 2005;
Whereas weak law enforcement, corruption, and a weak judicial system in Venezuela allow criminal organizations to act with impunity;
Whereas the Department of State’s International Narcotics Control Strategy Report of 2006 describes an increased level of exploitation of the remote and poorly secured 2,200-kilometer border separating Venezuela and Colombia;
Whereas the Department of State’s International Narcotics Control Strategy Report of 2006 reports that Colombian cartels and Venezuelan criminal organizations (among other smugglers) routinely exploit a variety of routes and methods to move hundreds of tons of illegal drugs into Venezuela every year, and organized crime in Venezuela has begun to set up operations in foreign countries to receive and distribute drugs in addition to providing transportation services;
Whereas in September 2005, the Government of the United States determined that Venezuela had failed demonstrably to meet its counternarcotics obligations and that Venezuela could no longer be certified as an ally in the war on drugs;
Whereas on April 11, 2006, a commercial plane originating in Venezuela was seized in Mexico at the airport of Ciudad del Carmen, carrying 5.6 tons of cocaine with an estimated street value of $100 million;
Whereas seizure statistics at the Simon Bolivar International Airport in Caracas are not available because the Government of Venezuela does not publicize such statistics;
Whereas estimates indicate that as much as 90 percent of the cocaine and heroin trafficked through the Simon Bolivar International Airport over the last 12 months was not intercepted;
Whereas the Government of Venezuela continues to fail to effectively utilize several airport security systems provided by the United States specifically aimed at increasing the Simon Bolivar International Airport counternarcotics capabilities;
Whereas the Government of Venezuela has not taken any steps unilaterally to prosecute any corrupt airport officials relating to cases of money laundering or drug trafficking at the airport despite credible intelligence estimates that there is potentially millions of dollars in narcotics proceeds passing through Simon Bolivar International Airport and Venezuela; and
Whereas the Government of Venezuela and the Venezuela National Anti-Drug Office (ONA) have officially reported only two seizures of currency in 2006, one for $13,865 in United States currency and the other for 7,000 euros: Now, therefore, be it
That—
(1)Congress—
(A)strongly condemns the actions and inactions of the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela which have created fertile ground for criminal drug trafficking organizations;
(B)strongly condemns the failures on the part of the Government of Venezuela to stem the flow of narcotics through its territory; and
(C)strongly condemns the complicity of senior Venezuelan Government law enforcement officials and transportation officials who are effectively enabling large scale shipments of both cocaine and heroine at the Simon Bolivar International Airport and other transit points; and
(2)it is the sense of Congress that—
(A)it should continue to be the policy of the United States to support cooperation between Venezuela and partners in the Andean region to combat trafficking in narcotics and other controlled substances;
(B)steps should continue to be taken to restore cooperation between Venezuela and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration;
(C)it should continue to be the policy of the United States to work with the international community, including the Organization of American States (OAS), to assist with a thorough review of the measures in place at the Simon Bolivar International Airport in Caracas;
(D)it should continue to be the policy of the United States to work with other member states of OAS to bring Venezuela into compliance and fully adhere to OAS conventions and comprehensive treaties to prevent, punish, and eliminate narco-terrorism, which constitutes a serious threat to democratic values and to international peace and security
;
(E)the Secretary of Transportation should provide to Congress not later than 180 days after the date of the adoption of this resolution, on behalf of the Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, and the Department of Transportation, a report with an assessment of the process undertaken by the Government of Venezuela toward restoring airport security measures and controls that meet international standards of safety; and
(F)the Secretary of State should provide to Congress not later than 180 days after the date of the adoption of this resolution a report on Venezuela’s compliance with its responsibilities under international counternarcotics treaties.