Bolivia: Gov’t suspends U.S. anti-drugs ops

Bolivian President Evo Morales said Saturday that his government will take over all counternarcotics operations run by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in the Andean country. "Personnel from the DEA supported activities of the unsuccessful coup d’état in Bolivia," said Morales in reference to disturbances in September. It’s unknown if Morales will boot DEA staff from Bolivia, while one “senior U.S. State Department official” called Morales’ claims "false and absurd."

Diplomatic relations between Bolivia and the U.S. have slowly deteriorated, especially after the ambassadors to both countries were recalled in September.

Morales’ move could be viewed as retaliation for the U.S. removing trade benefits to Bolivia last month. White House officials claimed that they suspended the trade preferences due to Bolivia’s “failure to cooperate” with U.S. anti-drug efforts, though according to an article from the CBC:

Despite its recent conflicts with the U.S., Bolivia has been more successful at controlling cocaine than the U.S. ally in the region, Colombia.

The UN has estimated that Bolivia's coca crop — coca is chewed or used in tea in Bolivia, but can be refined into cocaine — increased five per cent in 2007, a fraction of the 27-per-cent jump in Colombia.

Bolivian police working with the DEA agents seized much more cocaine after Morales became president in 2006.

Image- CNN
Sources- The Latin Americanist, Los Angeles Times, BBC News, CBC