President of Guatemala Invites Beckley Foundation to Advise on Drug Policy

The President of Guatemala invites the Beckley Foundation to open an Office in Guatemala in order to review and help to reform the Drug Policies of the Region.

This is an update about the important event held in Guatemala regarding Drug Policy Reform in Latin American countries.

On 3 July, at a Ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Guatemala City, President Otto Pérez Molina enthusiastically inaugurated the Beckley Foundation’s Latin American Chapter in Guatemala. View his speech here.

He invited the Foundation’s Director Amanda Feilding to help inform him and his government by producing scientific reports on the current state of the Drug War in Guatemala, and the surrounding region, and to develop new policy responses taking into account all possible options, including regulation.

President Perez Molina is the first acting Head of Government to publicly declare that the War on Drugs has failed, and that new approaches to Drug Policy are urgently needed. He requested the Beckley Foundation to convene an International Advisory Board of the leading experts in the field.

He is also the first Head of Government to sign the Beckley’s Public Letter which declares that the Global War on Drugs has failed and that new policies are urgently needed.