Antigua, Guatemala, May 15, 2014 (PL).- About 18 ministers and officials from the 33 member countries of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) debated on the global drug problem.

Costa Rica, as president pro tempore of that regional organization, chaired the First Ministerial Meeting of CELAC on the World Drug Problem, which was held in this colonial town of great tourist attraction.

‘The fight against drugs must be addressed in a more human and social way’, said the host president, Otto Perez Molina during the inauguration the event.

It is necessary, he said, to strengthen the public health system to be able to deal with the consequences of the phenomenon and to treat individuals medically, not criminally.

The Costa Rican ambassador to Guatemala, Javier Diaz, said that the fight should focus on the individual and his environment because it is essential that the region progresses politically and in finding effective solutions to combat the drug problem.

The CELAC was founded in a meeting held on Dec. 2 and 3, 2011 in Caracas, Venezuela, in the presence of then President Hugo Chavez and the leaders and heads of government of the other 32 Latin American and Caribbean nations.