GUATEMALA CITY - Guatemalan President-elect Otto Perez said on Thursday he might create a national drug czar to help battle powerful Mexican cartels that have extended their reach into Central America.
"We are studying the idea of having a vice-ministry directly in charge of drug trafficking. It will be a type of drug czar," Perez told journalists after meeting with visiting US Gen. Douglas Fraser.Perez, a retired general himself, swept to power in the country's general elections Nov. 6 on an 'iron fist' platform promising to cut crime in one of the world's deadliest nations.
The president-elect said that, if created, the drug czar would work closely with future Interior Minister Mauricio Lopez, a former top soldier who will be in charge of the police.
