Peru unveils pact to prevent drug money use in polls

Mexico City, Nov 8 : Peruvian authorities have drafted an accord to be signed by political parties to prevent the infiltration of drug money in their nation's 2010 municipal and regional elections, an official said.

The announcement was made Friday by the head of the board of Peru's Devida anti-drug agency, Romulo Pizarro, who this week met officials from Mexico's Attorney General's Office.

"This Monday we sent (the draft of the accord) to the political parties, following the meetings we had; they'll have a short period of time and we hope to be able to sign it in a public ceremony within 30 days," Pizarro said.

The goal of the accord is to prevent "having candidates that could in some way be competing under different conditions, and in many cases supported by illicit proceeds" from drug trafficking, according to Pizarro.

He noted that Peruvian authorities already have seen "signs" that drug kingpins are trying to infiltrate the highest reaches of power.

The pact will try to "shield the political parties in the candidate-selection process to prevent the infiltration of drug money," the official said, adding that the accord was proposed by Devida and that Peru's political parties already have come out in support of the pact.

He said that under the terms of the accord the parties will have to propose ways to fight drug trafficking, assume responsibility in this regard and be held accountable by a commission expressly created for this purpose.

According to Pizarro, the accord shows the Peruvian people that the government is committed to battling the infiltration of drug money ahead of the regional and municipal elections Oct 10, 2010.

The official said that "a significant percentage" of cocaine shipped out of Peru - the world's second leading producer of the drug after Colombia - is handled by Mexican cartels, which mainly smuggle it to Europe.

Mexico has been plagued in recent years by drug-related violence, with armed groups linked to Mexico's drug cartels murdering around 1,500 people in 2006, 2,700 people in 2007 and more than 6,000 last year, with this year's death toll likely to be higher still.

Pizarro said drug-producing and drug-consuming nations - mainly the United States and European nations - must accept joint responsibility for combating this scourge, adding that "it's time to start thinking" that Peru needs "direct assistance from consumer countries that have been permeable insofar as the possibility of consumption" within their borders.

--IANS