Bolivia Suspends U.S.-Backed Antidrug Efforts

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/world/americas/02bolivia.html

November 2, 2008
Bolivia Suspends U.S.-Backed Antidrug Efforts
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — President Evo Morales of Bolivia on Saturday suspended antidrug operations sponsored by the United States as Washington’s relations with his leftist government spiraled downward.

Mr. Morales accused the United States Drug Enforcement Administration of espionage and of financing “criminal groups” trying to undermine his government. He also declared in his address that his government had eradicated more than 12,000 acres of illegally planted coca so far this year — the minimum required under a 1988 law passed under United States pressure.

Coca is the raw material for cocaine, but Bolivians use its less potent natural form as a traditional tea or for chewing.

Relations between Bolivia and the United States have deteriorated in recent months as Mr. Morales’s government limited activities by the D.E.A. and later expelled the United States ambassador over charges of spying and involvement in antigovernment protests.

The United States in turn added Bolivia to its antinarcotics blacklist, causing a cut in trade preferences that Bolivian business leaders estimate could cost South America’s poorest country as many as 20,000 jobs.

Antidrug officials and diplomats from the United States have denied any political involvement.

Mr. Morales’s decision creates “an unfortunate situation,” said Garrison Courtney, an agency spokesman in Washington, but he added, “We will find other ways to make sure we keep abreast of the drug-trafficking situation through there.”

Two antidrug agents were pulled from the Chapare coca-growing region in September after Bolivian officials reported threats against them from coca growers in the area, a bastion of support for the president, who came to prominence as leader of a coca-growers union battling eradication campaigns.

The United Nations estimates that Bolivia’s coca crop increased by 5 percent in 2007 — far below the 27 percent jump recorded in Colombia, a close ally of the United States.

Last month Mr. Morales denied a request by the agency to fly an antidrug plane over Bolivia, saying Bolivia needed no help from the United States to control its coca crop.