US: Myanmar, Bolivia, Venezuela failing to fight drugs

The United States declared Monday that Myanmar, Bolivia and Venezuela have "failed demonstrably" to do enough to fight drug-trafficking from their countries over the past year. Every year, President Barack Obama is required by US law to update Congress on how his administration judges the behavior of those countries seen as sources of illegal narcotics. Nations that have "demonstrably failed" to make an effort to curb the illegal industry can in theory face sanctions, although in this case Obama has decided to go easy on two of them. According to the State Department, the administration decided that its aid programs to support democracy in Myanmar and Venezuela remain "vital to the national interest of the United States" and would continue. More…