United States Government / State Department Press Release / August 4, 2015 – Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) William R. Brownfield will meet tomorrow, August 5, at the State Department with Attorneys General from Central America to discuss justice and law enforcement issues, as well as ongoing reform efforts, in the region. The Attorneys General of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama are taking part in the discussion as part of a visit to the United States organized by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Central America is a priority region for the State Department, which provides support to these nations under the U.S. Strategy for Engagement in Central America. The INL Bureau, as part of the U.S. government’s Central America Regional Security Initiative, or CARSI, supports regional governments’ efforts to fight corruption, increase law enforcement effectiveness, combat gangs, reform justice sectors, and strengthen civilian security.

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for INL Luis Arreaga will also join the meeting, as will Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Francisco (Paco) Palmieri. In addition to their engagements at the State Department, the Attorneys General will also meet with U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and leadership of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

The State Department meeting will be closed press.

Note from The Costa Rica Star: The administration of President Luis Guillermo Solis has been largely supportive of the U.S. War on Drugs. The administration of former President Laura Chinchilla was more supportive of legalization of small amounts of drugs as a way to reduce the violence, bloodshed, corruption, and expense of this protracted war, which has gone on for decades without an end in sight.