Foreign Minister of Colombia María Angela Holguín announced on June 7 that she has intelligence regarding the presence of Colombian drug cartels in Bolivia,(1) to which Bolivian President Evo Morales pleaded ignorance.(2) The increasing pressure from international drug cartels throughout Bolivia has elicited concern among several regional leaders, such as Ruben Costas, governor of the department of Santa Cruz, who fears that Bolivia will become another “Ciudad Juárez.”(3) This dilemma is in no way novel, but also of no small importance. While Morales has downplayed the issue, as economist Carlos Toranzo Roca observes, it is the government’s responsibility to “eliminate the problems of the country that are devouring citizens’ everyday life.”(4)
Foreign Minister Holguín asserts that Colombia’s success in the war against drugs has forced drug traffickers to disseminate their product in neighboring countries,i especially those characterized by “friendlier operating environments.”(5) As John Lyons from Inter-American Security Watch argues, the governments of Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia have failed to effectively combat drug trafficking within their respective borders,v making those areas attractive for traffickers.
Source: LA PAZ/ANF
In 2010 Governor Costas accused high government officials of the Bolivian government, including Vice President Alvaro García Linera, of involvement with drug trafficking,(6)and in the last four years some individuals related to the Morales administration have been found guilty in Bolivian and U.S. courts of colluding with cartels.
For example, one corruption case concerned Margarita Terán, a coca grower and constituent of Morales’ political party, Movimiento al Socialismo, authoring a section that protects coca growers’ rights of the amended Bolivian constitution. Two of her sisters were caught in 2008 with 300 pounds of “semi refined cocaine” at a police roadblock.v Another high-profile case involved Valentin Mejillones, the shaman who swore President Morales into office and served as his personal spiritual mentor. Mejillones was arrested in 2010 for having more than 500 pounds of liquid cocaine—a concentration of cocaine plus ether—in his home.(5)
Perhaps the most-often cited scandal concerning the Bolivian government occurred in 2011. The former chief of Bolivia’s anti-narcotics police and close Morales confidante, Rene Sanabria, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for cocaine trafficking by a U.S. district judge in Miami(7). Conversations recorded by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) reveal that Sanabria was a powerful man who was able to recruit other Bolivian officials to smuggle cocaine out of the country. In discussions with DEA undercover agents, Sanabria said, “at any time, we can resort to other people at the top…from the command structure to the highest in the institution or any political group that will allow us to get it done.” His frustrated plan dealt with smuggling more than 300 pounds of cocaine from Bolivia into Miami.(7) Sanabria’s testimony raises red flags as to whether the Morales administration’s officials are involved with the production and transportation of illicit drugs.
In July, Brazilian news magazine Veja, allegedly gained access to a Bolivian intelligence report that linked Bolivian Presidency Minister Juan Ramon Quintana with Brazilian drug lord Maximiliano Dorado Munhoz, a man “accused of shipping up to 500 kilos per month of Bolivian cocaine” to Brazil.(8) Veja reported that opposition Senator Roger Pinto presented information about Quintana’s involvement with Dorado to President Morales on March 21 “only to be accused of corruption himself.”(8)
The Brazilian government awarded political asylum to Senator Roger Pinto,(9) who claimed harassment and political persecution at the hands of the Morales government in reaction to his alleged “evidence of corruption and links to drug trafficking at senior levels of President Evo Morales’ government.”(10) By granting him political asylum, Brazil officially recognized the issues it has with the Morales administration’s handling of cases that involve the country’s criminal justice system. The Bolivian government should not use its executive powers to silence those who are speaking against drug trafficking, but instead recognize the country’s vulnerability to drug lords, and fight against the production of drugs within its borders.
As the 2014 presidential election approaches, President Morales will surely receive harsh criticism from his opponents on the issue of drug policy. In order to affirm his administration’s stance on drug trafficking, Morales must become actively engaged in the war on drugs. He should implement drug policies that align with international procedures and identify corruption within the government. Morales should urge Bolivian Minister of Transparency and Corruption Nardy Suxo to identify members of the government involved in drug trafficking—if there are any—in an effort to eliminate corrupt individuals who could jeopardize his campaign.
Even though the United Nations has recently issued a report that maintains that drug cartels are non-existent in Bolivia, it assured that there are groups of organized crime dedicated to drug trafficking that are “as or more efficient than cartels”.(11) This problem is on the verge of intensifying, and the first step in addressing it is to acknowledge that the problem exists.
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(1) Diálogo. “Carteles colombianos operan en Bolivia, afirma canciller de Colombia”. Diálogo, June 7, 2012. http://www.dialogo-americas.com/es/articles/rmisa/features/regional_news/2012/06/07/feature-ex-3215
(2) El Nuevo siglo. “Desconozco si hay carteles colombianos en Bolivia”. El nuevo siglo, June 7, 2012. http://www.elnuevosiglo.com.co/articulos/6-2012-desconozco-si-hay-carteles-colombianos-en-bolivia.html
(3) El Deber. “Costas ratifica denuncia por narcotráfico en contra de García Linera”. El Deber, June 6, 2012. http://eldeber.com.bo/nota.php?id=120606174726
(4) Toranzo Roca, Carlos. “Qué pasa en el país?”. PáginaSIETE.bo, June 19, 2012. http://www.paginasiete.bo/2012-06-20/Opinion/Destacados/17Opi00220-06-12-P720120620MIE.aspx
(5) Lyons, John. “Cocaine: The New Front Lines”. Inter American Security Watch, January 17, 2012. http://interamericansecuritywatch.com/cocaine-the-new-front-lines/
(6) Rojas, Aideé. “Costas acusa al ‘Vice’ de narco; García pide pruebas”. El Deber, July 7, 2010. http://www.eldeber.com.bo/vernotanacional.php?id=100707000606
(7) Inter American Security Watch. “Former chief of Bolivian anti-narcotics police gets 14 years in prison in US cocaine case”. Inter American Security Watch, September 23, 2011. http://interamericansecuritywatch.com/former-chief-of-bolivian-anti-narcotics-police-gets-14-years-in-prison-in-us-cocaine-case/
(8) Fox, Edward. “Report Accusses Bolivian Minister of Ties to Brazilian Traffickers”. In Sight, July 11, 2012. http://www.insightcrime.org/insight-latest-news/item/2878-report-accuses-bolivian-minister-of-ties-to-brazilian-traffickers
(9) El Deber. “Brasil da revés a Evo con el asilo de Pinto”. El Deber, June 9, 2012. http://www.eldeber.com.bo/nota.php?id=120608232008
(10) Lyons, John. “Bolivian Drug Accuser Seeks Asylum in Brazil”. Inter American Security Watch, May 30, 2012. http://interamericansecuritywatch.com/bolivian-drug-accuser-seeks-asylum-in-brazil/
(11) El Deber. “En Bolivia no hay cárteles, sino grupos de crimen organizado dedicados al narcotráfico”. El Deber, June 20, 2012. http://eldeber.com.bo/en-bolivia-no-hay-carteles-sino-grupos-de-crimen-organizado-dedicados-al-narcotrafico-/120620202222
Am I misremembering, or is it the case that President Evo Morales, before being elected president (and still?), earned his living as a coca leaf farmer? And that he openly supported export of coca-leaf products to the world?
I do hope someone with much better knowledge than I on this point will respond with a documented exposition on the matter. If what I allege is the case, why be surprisedby high-level coca-leaf product dealings by high-ranking Bolivian governmental figures? And then the logical conclusion: President Morales should be in line to occupy ex-Panamanian President Noriega's cell in the Florida Everglades.
There is, of course, another viewpoint: legalize all that garbage on the condidtion that citizens, law-makers, police, judges and users understand that once a person becomes a bad actor because of the addiction or even of an infrequent, but harm-to-another use, society will simply prosecute them as it does DWI offenders.
OMG This is like trying to judge the Obama presidency solely on the basis of FOX News reports. Four out of eleven sources are from El Deber, the mouth-piece for the oligarchy in Santa Cruz state. That would be like giving credence to the segregationist press in the South, when talking about civil rights. Another 3 are from the Inter American Security Watch. One of the menu items on that site reads "Chavez Health Watch." High level issue for Inter American "security" I suppose. Pagina 7 is owned by one of the most powerful economic groups in Bolivia and has been an ardent participant in the disinformation campaigns against the government from day one. Distortion, innuendo and miss-representation are the staple here.
COHA shouldn't be a participant in these poisonous self-referencing campaigns. Some serious objectivity check is needed.
did space aliens take over COHA? it seems that someone who clearly knows nothing about bolivia picked up a few notes from internet and wrote up a mishmash of misinformation. an alternative explanation is that rojas-ruiz is some kind of trojan horse planted inside COHA. citing ruben costas as a source is laughable. his santa cruzans tried earlier to overthrow morales, and then to assassinate him with the help of a what was to be an imported guerrilla army of european right-wing nationalists. the ultimate plan was to split the country in two.
adding to that craziness sources like the scandal-rag veja, the super-right el deber, inter american security watch, and pagina 7 is like citing fox news on what makes michelle bachmann a good presidential candidate.
the commenter 'un espectador' seems to not know the difference between coca and cocaine, nor between legal coca uses (for high-altitude sickness, as a stimulant used for centuries, for religious purposes, for tea, lately for a soft drink, as fertilizer, etc) and illegal diversion to the cocaine producers. no need to get into the successful efforts by morales' government to eliminate illegal coca use, or the way in which the same goal was tried before, unsuccessfully: by dumping devastating pesticides, trampling campesinos, and allowing the US' DEA to direct and control the coca growing, including by selling coca when it was needed to raise money for some of the US' off-the-books programs.
any person who reads spanish can find the information in this article by reading the right-wing papers and sites in bolivia. one can also find the contrary by reading all of the other information of higher credibility.
I apologize for these harsh words but you "aghast" are an idiot. I am from Bolivia and travel there very frequently, Bolivia is a NARCO state and the daily killings on the street reflect that of a country that is being taken over by drug mafias … and I myself have family members in Evo's political party that can attest that indeed Evo's regime is linked directly to these drug mafias. So before you try to down play these facts and blame them on YOUR so called Right Wing groups … inform yourself better by perhaps having information from high ranking Bolivian authorities before making such ignorant comments.
the extreme right wing lives in bolivia; it does not just travel as you do, and they are still the extreme right wing. like there are republicans in the US who live here, but are not reality-based. so don't play like you're better informed: defend your position with facts. for all we know, you're part of the two logias in santa cruz. big deal.
the people who support change in bolivia, including the csutcb, the bartolinas, the many indigenous groups who are not controlled by the few former leaders in the Tnis –who were thrown out of their former posts for their behavior– and many others, support evo and the mas. they do not support the right wing that up to the recent election of the new judges were known for letting go all of the narcos arrested by the felcn.