Bolivian President Evo Morales is refusing to allow U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents into the country, describing the exclusion as a question of “dignity and sovereignty.” The Bolivian government expelled U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg and the DEA in 2008, accusing them of conspiring against the country. Bolivia recently announced that it will re-establish diplomatic relations with the U.S., but is insisting that DEA agents are no longer welcome.
In Bolivia the U.S. war on drugs is focused on destroying coca plants, long a part of indigenous local culture, because they are used in production of cocaine. Morales noted that as a former coca growers’ union leader he had been victimized by the DEA actions. He was quoted by the BBC, saying, “For the first time since the foundation of Bolivia, the U.S. will respect Bolivian laws and constitution.” Bolivian Vice-President Alvaro Garcia Linera expressed support for the decision, accusing the DEA of being a “mechanism of political blackmail.”
