Bolivia proposes thawing icy relations with U.S.

Political relations between the U.S. and Bolivia have been pretty low since Evo Morales became president of the Andean country. In September, U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg was expelled from La Paz; in return, the White House suspended key trade benefits with Bolivia.

Yesterday the Bolivian government proposed normalizing relations with the U.S. despite the disagreements between both countries. There’s just one teeny-tiny catch:

Bolivia is ready to normalize relations with the United States but only if the US government is willing to recognize the new place the coca leaf has in Bolivia's constitution, a top official said…

"We're ready to resume and redirect our relations, and from State Department information we have we know they are also ready," Deputy Foreign Minister Hugo Fernandez told a press conference in La Paz…

"Our constitution doesn't allow any disdain for the coca leaf, and if the United States can't accept this, it’s difficult to see how we can reach an agreement."

Fernandez’ gesture is certainly a welcome one and ideally should be taken seriously. Realistically, however, it will most likely be rejected by the White House since the U.S. and Bolivia don’t see eye-to-eye on counternarcotics efforts.

A better move would be for both the Morales administration and the White House to engage in bilateral discussions on drugs, trade, etc. Admittedly it may be difficult to get officials from both countries to sit at the same table, but it's possible with Congress pushing for improved relations between both countries.

Image- daylife.com
Online Sources- LAHT, AFP, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, The Latin Americanist