US Pledges $300 Million More for Central America Drug War

Demands Nations Raise Business Taxes for More War Spending
by Jason Ditz
Antiwar.com
Jun. 23, 2011

The Obama Administration has announced a new package of $300 million in aid for 12 Central American governments to fight the US drug war. The amount is a 15% increase over the 2010 level of funding.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, addressing a security conference in Guatamala, also demanded that the 12 nations increase their taxes so as to increase spending on the war. She insisted “true security” required higher taxes on businesses.

The drug war has seen violence levels across the region dramatically escalate. The governments in the region are expected to push for an additional $1 billion above and beyond what has already been promised.

With the US already facing massive budget deficits, the increase in spending on the failing drug war is likely to be extremely controversial, and will be dramatically moreso if the Obama Administration looks to deliver on the requests for even more aid beyond that level.