Quito, February 4 (RHC-PL) -- Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur), Ernesto Samper, is scheduled to travel to Uruguay next week to promote initiatives to address the drug scourge in the region, announced the regional bloc.

According to a communique issued by Unasur from its headquarters in Ecuador, during his stay in Montevideo on February 9th and 10th, the former Colombian president will sign a Letter of Commitment of Common Initiatives about the Drug Observatory and also an agreement with the Corporacion Andina de Fomento (Andean Development Corporation).

Samper also plans to meet with Foreign Minister Luis Almagro, Vice President of the Electoral Court, Wilfrido Penco, and other authorities that will assume positions in the next Government of Uruguay, which this year is pro tempore president of the 12-member bloc.

Samper defends the implementation of a transition policy regarding the issue of drugs as an alternative to their prohibition, but without legalizing them, as Uruguay did.

UNASUR, founded in 2008, includes Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Surinam, Uruguay and Venezuela.