U.S. boosts drug war in Central America

U.S. boosts drug war in Central America
June 1, 2012 12:25 am
By Damien Cave, Charlie Savage and Thom
Shanker / The New York Times

WASHINGTON -- After several villagers were killed on a Honduran river last month during a raid on drug smugglers by Honduran and U.S. agents, a local backlash raised concerns that the United States' expanding counternarcotics efforts in Central America might be going too far. But U.S. officials in charge of that policy see it differently.

~snip~
As part of those efforts, the United States is pressing governments across Central America to work together against their shared threat -- sharing intelligence and even allowing security forces from one nation to operate on the sovereign soil of another -- an approach that was on display in the disputed raid. But reviews from Central America include uncertainty and skepticism.

Government leaders in Honduras -- who came to power in a controversial election a few months after a 2009 coup -- have strongly supported U.S. assistance, but skeptics contend that enthusiasm is in part because the partnership bolsters their fragile hold on power.

More broadly, there is discontent in Latin America with U.S. efforts that some leaders and independent experts see as too focused on dramatic seizures of North America-bound shipments rather than local drug-related murders, corruption and chaos.

More:
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/world/us-boosts-drug-war-in-central-america-638490/#ixzz1wYVXk63X