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 You are in: Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs > Bureau of Public Affairs > Bureau of Public Affairs: Press Relations Office > Press Releases (Other) > 2007 > March 
Taken Question
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
March 8, 2007
Question Taken at Daily Press Briefing of March 7, 2007

Extraditions

Question: Given that the State Department has lauded Mexico's extraditions of a record number of high-level drug suspects to the United States for trial, why have we said little or nothing about Guatemala's ongoing failure to extradite even one Guatemalan wanted on drug charges (notwithstanding several Guatemalans extradited on local murder charges in various U.S. states) to the United States in more than a decade?

Answer: The United States considers Guatemala to be an important regional partner in the fight against drugs. As stated in the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report to Congress published on March 1, 2007, Guatemala has made substantial progress in restructuring counternarcotics police functions, passed an organized crime control act that will permit wiretapping, and continued opium poppy eradication efforts. In spite of these efforts in 2006, traffickers exploited air, road, and sea routes to move cocaine through Guatemala. The government is committed to attacking corruption and has fired hundreds of corrupt police since taking office.

The report also notes that the extradition treaty between Guatemala and the United States dates from 1903. A supplement to the extradition treaty signed in 1940 added narcotics offenses to the list of extraditable offenses. Even though these offenses are covered, the required legal proceedings in any extradition case can make the process lengthy. Despite the legal obstacle, a Guatemalan citizen was extradited to the United States in 2006 on a narcotics-related murder.

Any further questions regarding U.S. requests for extradition should be directed to the Department of Justice.

2007/169


Released on March 8, 2007

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