Guatemala City: Demand for illegal narcotics in the United States is fuelling drug violence in Central America, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has said, acknowledging a measure of US responsibility for what she called a "terrible criminal scourge”.
"The United States under the Obama administration recognises and accepts its share of responsibility for the problems posed by drug trafficking in this region," she told reporters on Friday ahead of the talks in the Guatemalan capital.
"The demand in the large market in the United States drives the drug trade," she said. "We know that we are part of the problem and that is an admission that we have been willing make this past year."
Hillary made the same admission last year on a trip to Mexico, which was then beginning major military operations against drug cartels. At the time, her comments drew fierce criticism from US conservatives who said she was unfairly blaming America for the situation overseas.
Some Republican lawmakers and commentators accused Hillary of blaming America for social and criminal ills in other countries.
They said such admissions were unwarranted. Ex-US president George W Bush's administration had tacitly acknowledged the problem of US demand but had always kept the focus on the war on drugs in narcotics producing and trafficking countries.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, March 06, 2010, 11:35