Bolivia seeks regional "shield" against organised crime through neighbouring presidential summits
President Rodrigo Paz will announce meetings with leaders of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Peru to coordinate regional security against drug trafficking.
Bolivia launches diplomatic round to halt advance of organised crime in the region
Bolivia's president, Rodrigo Paz, announced on Monday that he will hold a series of meetings with the leaders of the five neighbouring countries—Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Peru—with the aim of building a "shield" of protection against transnational organised crime, according to eluniverso.com.
The announcement was made during an event marking the anniversary of the Bolivian Air Force (FAB) in the city of Santa Cruz. Paz did not provide precise details about the calendar for those meetings, though he noted that the encounters would begin this same week with an official visit from Chilean president José Antonio Kast, scheduled for Friday.
The foreign ministries of Bolivia and Chile confirmed that the visit responds to an agenda "oriented towards the prosperity, security and wellbeing of its citizens".
Paz stated that neighbouring governments must act as "allies" to protect their societies from organised crime networks. "They will come to visit us just as we will also go to visit them to reinforce that relationship with our bordering countries," the president said.
The president described an expanding threat: drug trafficking now operates with "organisations that move financial resources, weapons, routes, technology and networks of corruption", and resort to "organised violence and methods of terror" to challenge authorities. In response, Paz called for "a firm, professional and law-abiding response" against the narcoterrorism present in Bolivia.
Regional coordination must translate, according to the president, into "training, intelligence, technology, surveillance and improved coordination mechanisms". Bolivia, he added, aspires to become "a reliable partner that contributes to regional security".
During the same event, Paz revealed that he had been the target of a "death threat", although he provided no further details. According to the president, the incident sought to prevent his attendance at an event in the Amazonian department of Pando, linked to the capture over the weekend of "an important member" of the Brazilian criminal organisation First Command of the Capital (PCC).
The Bolivian Government attributes several crimes recorded in recent weeks in the eastern part of the country and on the border with Brazil to the dispute between the PCC and the Red Command (CV) for control of drug trafficking routes in the Chiquitania and Bolivian Amazon zones.
In eleven months of administration, the Executive claims to have captured 29 members of different international criminal organisations, who were repatriated to their countries of origin.
As part of the reinforcement in security matters, it is expected that Brazil's Federal Police will establish an office in Bolivian territory and that two elite units will be set up to combat criminal organisations operating in the border region.
Source: Google News BO — Crime