Mission to Nicaragua
An INCB mission visited Nicaragua from 2 to 4 December 2013. The mission was conducted by the Member of the Board,
Prof. Francisco Thoumi, accompanied by Ms. Eva Fernandez Santis, Chief of the Psychotropics Control Section of the INCB Secretariat. The purpose of the mission was to discuss specific issues related to the country's implementation of the three international drug control conventions, to which it is party. The last mission of the Board to Nicaragua took place in 1993.
The mission met with the Minister of Interior, Mrs. Ana Isabel Morales Mazún, the Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Valdrack Jaentschke, the Attorney-General of Nicaragua, Mr. Hernán Estrada Santamaría , the Executive Secretary of the National Council of the Fight against Organized Crime, Mr. Pedro Pablo Dávila, the Chief of the Anti-Drug Office of the National Police, Mr. José Esteban Guido, the Director-General of the Health Regulatory Department of the Ministry of Health, Mr. Miguel Ángel Baca Jiménez, the Director of Pharmacy of the Ministry of Health, Ms. Martha Rosales Granera, and the Executive Director of the Institute against Alcoholism and Drug Addiction, Dr. Francisco Alberto Landero Vargas. The mission also had the opportunity to visit the Rehabilitation Centre CENICSOL and the Addiction Treatment Facility HODERA.
Deliberations concentrated on recent developments in drug trafficking and abuse in Nicaragua, the Government's cooperation with INCB, the measures taken by the Government to control narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and the chemicals needed for their illicit manufacture, and demand reduction policies. The availability of opiates for medical needs was also discussed with the national authorities.
The findings of the mission will be reviewed by the Board at its 109 th session in February 2014 and will be reflected in the INCB Annual Report for 2014, which will be published in early 2015.
Picture above:
From the left, the Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Valdrack Jaentschke, the Attorney-General of Nicaragua, Mr. Hernán Estrada Santamaría, and the Director for Democratic Security Control of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Carlos Vicente Ibarra.