Guatemalan president to propose legalising drugs

Update 13.02.12: more detail on this story published in StarTribune (via AP) here

As a breaking-news folow up to recent posts  on the rapidly growing momentum for drug law reform in Latin America(see here,  here and here) Associated Press have just reported that:

"Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina said Saturday he will propose legalizing drugs in Central America in an upcoming meeting with the region's leaders.Perez Molina said in a radio interview that his proposal would include decriminalizing the transportation of drugs through the area."

He is reported as saying that "I want to bring this discussion to the table,"... "It wouldn't be a crime to transport, to move drugs. It would all have to be regulated." . Although no more details about precisely what regulatory models he may suggest have emerged, he said his proposal would be discussed with Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes when Funes visits Monday.

He was also critical of the failings of the US drug war, stating that; "There was talk of the success of Plan Colombia but all it did was neutralize big cartels,", and blamed drug cartels for the spiralling violence in Guatemala - presumably a key driver for this latest positioning. It will be interestig to see if he is willing to pick up the baton on this issue and help develop a more solid regional reform block willing to move things forward with the US and on the wider international stage.