US raps Venezuela, Myanmar on illegal drug trade

WASHINGTON, Sep 19 (Reuters) The United States has criticized Venezuela for doing too little to fight the drug trade, but said it would not cut off aid to the major US oil supplier so it could keep supporting democracy there.

In an annual assessment of which nations are the major drug producers and transit points, the White House found that Myanmar and Venezuela had ''failed demonstrably'' to live up to international commitments to combat drugs, a step that could halt US aid beyond counternarcotics and humanitarian funds.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has clashed with Washington over everything from foreign policy and free trade to oil prices and democracy, last year accused the Drug Enforcement Administration of spying on him and ended cooperation with the US agency.

''The United States is very concerned about the continued deterioration of democratic institutions in Venezuela,'' the Bush administration said yesterday in a memorandum that cited ''increased executive control over the other branches of government, threats to judicial independence and human rights, and attacks on press freedoms and freedom of expression.'' As a result, Washington has decided to keep funding programs that ''aid Venezuela's democratic institutions, establish selected community development projects and strengthen Venezuela's political party system.'' The US judgement is unlikely to have any significant effect on Myanmar given that the United States cut off direct assitance to the country in 1988.

The White House called for greater counternarcotics efforts from Bolivia, the world's third-largest producer of cocaine, and from US ally Afghanistan, estimating that one third of its economy is opium-based.

In a document sent to Congress, Bush faulted Bolivia for focusing too heavily on interdicting the flow of drugs and too little on eradicating coca crops, although he noted that such efforts had picked up. He urged the country to destroy more drug crops, saying the United States would set out benchmarks for Bolivia and review its performance within six months.

On Afghanistan, Bush recognized Afghan President Hamid Karzai had ''attacked narcotrafficking as the greatest threat to Afghanistan'' but suggested he needed to do more.

''The government at all levels must be held accountable to deter and eradicate poppy cultivation; remove and prosecute corrupt officials; and investigate, prosecute, or extradite narcotraffickers and those financing their activities,'' Bush wrote. ''We are concerned that failure to act decisively now could undermine security, compromise democratic legitimacy, and imperil international support for vital assistance.'' Other countries on the US list of major drug transit or drug-producing nations were the Bahamas, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay and Peru.

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