Guatemala To Receive $10 – $20 M for Merida Initiative

The United States Ambassador James Derham, indicated today that Guatemala could receive between ten and twenty million dollars in the coming years as part of the Merida Initiative which was passed into law yesterday by the American President George W. Bush.

The American ambassador declared, “The final details have not been determined still, but I would believe that between direct bilateral assistance and regional programs, Guatemala should receive between ten and twenty million dollars from the Merida Initiative funds for Central America for this year.”

The statements came from a workshop on the generation for employment organized by the Guatemalan government.

On his part, Vice President Rafael Espada said that with these resources, they shall be able to work, but insisted that the program should first plan to identify the problems that affect each country to determine how much help each one should receive.

Espada said that he does not know when the authorities of the region’s counties would meet to discuss the topic.

This past week the American Congress approved the plan that foresees $1.6 billion of aid in three years for the war on drugs in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.

Thanks to this initiative, Mexico shall receive four hundred million, and sixty five million shall be divided between Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Belize, Panama, The Dominican Republic, and Haiti.

Changes for the Second Year

The Merida Initiative is subject to change in its two following years of execution, said the coordinator of the war on drugs from the White House, John Walters, according to a dispatch from A.P.

He indicated that the modification could include benefits to other countries, especially in South America where the majority of drugs are produced that come to the United States, and at some time they might try to combine forces with other American programs that have the same purpose, as the Colombia Plan.