Anti-drug tsar's presser on current fight against drugs in Colombia

SHOTLIST PLEASE NOTE: MIXED AUDIO, NO SPLIT TRACK AVAILABLE 1. United States Drug Tzar, John Walters, entering news conference 2. Wide of news conference 3. Cutaway of camera 4. Wide of news conference 5. SOUNDBITE (English) John Walters, US Drug Tzar: "We do not want the immediate regions of northern Mexico, adjacent to our southern border controlled by mafias who will routinely come across the border and kidnap, kill, traffic in drugs and violence without any scruple. So we are working together as never before there will be obviously some hard work and some unfortunate loss of life that will be part of this. The goal is to make that as small and as brief as possible by using the tools of the justice system effectively." 6. Close of Walters listening to ear piece 7. SOUNDBITE (English) John Walters, US Drug Tzar: "The problems is the Venezuelans have refused to cooperate and again that is their right as a sovereign country but it's obviously bad for Venezuela, it's bad for levels of violence and kidnapping and crime, the corruption, the insinuation that this makes and you see the consequences of this from past history. Again, why is Colombia better off and safer and why is Venezuela getting worse off and more violent and more destructive? Drugs, crime, mafias and corruption. Colombia is doing a historic job of turning that around, Venezuela is going in the wrong direction. The way you get out of this is you make decisions about what's going to happen in your own country that stand for the rule of law and you cooperate with people you need to work with you in the multi-national community to stop this transnational threat. It can be done, it has been done in the past and it need happen again and ultimately Venezuela has to decide walking away from the problem." 8. Cutaway of news conference 9. SOUNDBITE (English) John Walters, US Drug Tzar: "I dearly hope and the United States dearly hopes that Bolivia will again reconsider and consider working with the international community but that is up to the leadership of Bolivia." 10. Walters leaving news conference STORYLINE United States Drug Tzar John Walters warned on Thursday that the battle against drug cartels in Mexico will be long and could result in further loss of life. Walters spoke during a news conference in Colombia's capital of Bogota, where he was on an official visit. He highlighted the efforts of Mexican president Felipe Calderon in the fight against drug trafficking while expressing his government's wishes for a "peaceful and friendly" relationship with all Latin American countries. When asked about Venezuela and Bolivia, two countries that Washington has clashed with in the battle against drugs, Walters said his government was continuing to work in developing constructive relationships with these nations. But he said that it was ultimately up to their governments to cooperate with Washington in the battle against drugs. Venezuela ended its cooperation with the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in 2005. US authorities have said the transportation of Colombian cocaine through Venezuelan territory has quadrupled since 2004 to reach 282 tonnes annually. Walters laid part of the blame on Venezuela for refusing to cooperate with the US - which he said only created high levels of violence, kidnapping and crime in the Latin American country. Walters said Venezuela must stand for the rule of law and cooperate with the multi-national community to stop the transnational threat. Meanwhile, Walters praised Colombia for doing a "historic job" of turning the problem around, adding that Venezuela was "going in the wrong direction." decades behind bars in the US after pleading guilty to roles in a far-reaching cocaine smuggling conspiracy. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/e8fd5201030370a57d9ffb919128a53f Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork