Andean Information Network

The Council on Hemispheric Affairs’ (COHA) April 25 “Spotlight on Bolivia: The “Coca Diplomacy” of Evo Morales,” generalizes and speculates about Bolivian drug policy and relations with the United States. While the general conclusion that U.S. policymakers should do more to cooperate with Bolivia’s vision of coca is valid, inaccuracies presented weaken its arguments. The [...]

As calls mount from prominent Latin American politicians for a profound re-evaluation of international drug policy, and even a debate on the feasibility of drug decriminalization and legalization at the Summit of the Americas this weekend, Bolivia’s complex position is often misunderstood. Personal consumption decriminalized in practice Currently, personal drug possession in Bolivia does not [...]

On March 7, the US released the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report. Drug policy advocates have long criticized the yardsticks used by the US government to measure efficacy in drug control. But even by US standards, Bolivia surpasses Peru in most categories, though the US certified Peru and determined that Bolivia “failed demonstrably to make [...]

The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) 2011 Report singled out the Bolivian Government, stating that the country is presenting a “major challenge to the international drug control system.”[i] This conclusion is based on Bolivia’s 2011 denunciation of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol. The Bolivian government objected [...]

On November 17, Bolivia, Brazil and the United States planned to ratify agreements on a trilateral coca monitoring effort. Officials delayed signing the accord until Friday, and then postponed it indefinitely. Initially slated for March 2011, ratification of the agreement has been repeatedly delayed.   Furthermore, the agreement has been converted from a trilateral accord to [...]

Although the Morales administration has insisted for the past two years that a new bilateral framework agreement precede any other accord with the United States, some sectors of the government aggressively advocated, this trilateral document.  The joint actions proposed in this draft agreement are already being carried out efficiently in Bolivia by state institutions (Digprococa-Udestro and Udesy), [...]

The U.S. government historically exercised significant political influence through conditioned funding for Bolivia. However, the U.S. budget for Bolivia should shrink substantially in 2012, further limiting an already diminished presence. Reductions in funding and diplomatic involvement could help lay the foundation for an innovative bilateral relationship. Congress is currently reviewing the Obama administration’s FY 2011 [...]

PRESS RELEASE January 28, 2011 The U.S. Can Still Correct its Position on Bolivia’s UN Coca Chewing Amendment Civil Society Letter to Secretary of State Clinton Requests that U.S. Government Withdraw its Objection to Bolivia’s Proposal The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), the Andean Information Network (AIN), and more than 200 other concerned organizations [...]

On January 26, coca growers and their constituents gathered in cities across Bolivia to hold peaceful demonstrations in support of Bolivia’s proposed amendment to the 1961 United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. The amendment seeks to decriminalize the traditional practice of coca leaf chewing. Coca growers’ federations from the Chapare region gathered in Cochabamba’s main [...]

On October 11, coca growers in the North Yungas region of the La Paz department organized blockades to protest a recent Bolivian government measure to limit and control coca leaf production and sales. Nine days later on October 19, protestors signed a preliminary agreement with the government and lifted blockades until November 5, allowing for [...]