NATIONS' EFFORTS AGAINST DRUGS SLOW

The White House said Burma, Guatemala and Haiti have "failed demonstrably"
to make substantial efforts in the past year to meet international
drug-control standards. Top Stories

"The Guatemalan government's counternarcotics performance deteriorated
substantially in 2002," said Paul Simons, acting assistant secretary of
state for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs during a
briefing to outline President Bush's narcotics certification determinations
for 2003.

"Specifically, narcotics seizures and narcotics-related prosecutions were
sharply down. Police stole twice the quantity of drugs that they officially
seized, and they were identified with drug-related extrajudicial executions
of both narco-traffickers and civilians," he said on Friday.

Guatemala was among 23 countries graded on their counternarcotics
performance last year. Mr. Bush can impose economic sanctions against those
countries that do not comply with accepted anti-drug policies, although he
waived sanctions for Guatemala and Haiti based on national-security concerns.

"These two countries will receive assistance, notwithstanding their
counternarcotics performance," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer
Friday. It is the first time Guatemala had made the list.

The 22 other countries named on the president's "major drugs" list are
Afghanistan, Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma, China, Colombia, Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan,
Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Thailand, Venezuela and Vietnam.

Mr. Simons noted that the Guatemalan government has reopened negotiations
with the United States on a maritime counternarcotics agreement and has
begun regularly destroying newly confiscated drugs not needed for evidence.

Mr. Bush also noted his concern over an "alarming increase" in the quantity
of illegal synthetic drugs entering the United States, especially Ecstasy
from Europe. He said a significant amount of the Ecstasy consumed in this
country was manufactured clandestinely in the Netherlands.

He said the United States was working "closely" with Dutch authorities to
stop the production and export of Ecstasy, "which we both regard as a
serious threat to our citizens."

Mr. Bush said he expects Dutch authorities to move effectively and
measurably in the coming year against the production and export of the
drug, including dismantling labs and proceeding against trafficking
organizations.

The president also said he was concerned that Canada had become a primary
source of pseudoephedrine and an increasing source of high- potency
marijuana, which are exported to the United States. Pseudoephedrine
diverted from Canada is used at clandestine drug laboratories in this
country to produce methamphetamine.

"The government of Canada, for the most part, has not regulated the sale
and distribution of precursor chemicals," Mr. Bush said, adding that
regulations to restrict the availability of pseudoephedrine "should be
stronger."

With regard to Guatemala, federal authorities have been concerned about
that country as a partner in the international war on drugs because of its
growing involvement as a major trans-shipment point for cocaine and heroin
bound for the United States.

Law-enforcement authorities and others said the Bush administration has
also focused on rising corruption in Guatemala, including within the
government, and on President Alfonso Portillo's reported friendship with
reputed criminals.

Last year, Mr. Portillo was accused of opening bank accounts in Panama to
embezzle state funds. He denied the accusations. A top Guatemalan official,
Francisco Ortega Menaldo, a close adviser to Mr. Portillo, had his visa
revoked last year by the U.S. government on suspicion of his involvement in
smuggling and drug trafficking.

A report by the U.S.-based research organization Hemisphere Initiatives
also cited links between the Guatemalan government and organized crime,
saying a clandestine network involving members of the judiciary and
security forces has blocked criminal investigations and pressured judges.