Colombian ministry officials supported the creation of an international fund to combat narco-trafficking with seized drug money, but demanded “proportionality” in its financing, in meetings at the G8 summit currently taking place in Paris, France, the American Free Press (AFP) reported Tuesday.
“For us the creation of a monetary fund is a very good sign and we hope that a financial effort is made by the most developed and powerful countries in the world in relation to the size of the problem,” said Defense Minister Rodrigo Rivera.
Rivera said that the country has been able to share information and experience with many countries including the U.S. and Great Britain but has received very little economic assistance from the U.S. and European countries, where cocaine trafficking generates $70 billion annually, according to UN data.
Interior and Justice Minister German Vargas Lleras added that in recent years Colombia has spent $8 billion on the fight against narco-trafficking.
“We are going to back the constitution of this fund but we have requested that in terms of its financing, the proportionality of the various countries that are investing in this effort is kept in mind,” said Vargas Lleras.
The fund, to be controlled by the United Nations (UN), was proposed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the first of two meetings regarding the fight against trans-Atlantic cocaine trafficking, which took place at the G8 summit in Paris Monday and Tuesday.
The summit was attended by officials from 12 countries, including a number of Latin American and African states, and by nine international organizations.