US places Belize on drug transit list

Belize is among four Caribbean countries placed on a list of drug transit or illicit drug producing countries.  President Donald Trump in his Presidential Determination on Major Drug Transit or Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries for Fiscal Year 2020, also named The Bahamas, Haiti and Jamaica in the Caribbean. Belize finds itself among other countries in the list which includes Afghanistan, Bolivia, Burma, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Peru and Venezuela. The memorandum states that Belize’s presence on the list is not necessarily a reflection of its government’s counter narcotics efforts or level of cooperation with the United States. It states “The reason countries are placed on the list is the combination of geographic, commercial, and economic factors that allow drugs to transit or be produced, even if a government has engaged in robust and diligent narcotics control measures.”