Peru President To Discuss Drug Trafficking With Joe Biden During Her Washington Trip

Peruvian President Dina Boluarte said Monday she will discuss the issue of drug trafficking with her U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, during a regional summit this week.

President Boluarte will travel to Washington on Wednesday for a four-day visit. She will attend the inaugural Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (APEP) leaders' summit and an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) forum.

The president told journalists she and Biden are expected to talk about the "full-frontal fight against drug trafficking, along with the country's efforts to garner larger and better investments," Reuters reported.

According to the United Nations, Peru is one of the world's largest producers of drugs like coca leaf and cocaine.

The APEP summit, which will be held on Friday, made headlines last month when Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador disclosed that he won't attend the summit due to Peru's attendance.

Obrador slammed Peru's new government formed after the ouster of former President Pedro Castillo last December. Castillo's ouster resulted in social unrest and several protests across Peru.

Last month, President Boluarte declared a state of emergency in three districts — San Juan de Lurigancho, San Martín de Porres, and Piura locality of Sullana — allegedly to fight against crime, before traveling to New York City to attend the 78th United Nations General Assembly.

The crime rate in Peru's capital Lima has seen a rise in the recent past — from 120,350 reported cases in 2021 to 160,200 cases in 2022. In one such incident, at least 15 people were injured after someone threw a war grenade into a nightclub recently.

Illegal drug trade is one of the factors driving up the crime rate in the country.

The U.S. issued an advisory for its citizens in June, asking them to avoid traveling to Peru as there was civil unrest and the possibility of getting kidnapped.

Apart from Peru, 12 other Latin American countries are there in the United States' list of major drug transit or production nations, including Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and Venezuela.