MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bolivian president suspends US anti-drug efforts

Morales boots DEA

Bolivian President Evo Morales yesterday suspended operations by the US Drug Enforcement Administration, an agency he has accused of spying and helping to destabilize his government.

Morales announced the indefinite cutoff in a speech in which he said his government has wiped out more than 5,000 hectares of illegally planted coca this year. Coca is the raw material for cocaine, but Bolivians use it in its natural form as a traditional tea or chew. Morales has accused the DEA of working with and even financing his political opposition, as well as fomenting regional anti-government protests and using its drug planes for espionage. US officials have denied any political involvement by US anti-drug efforts. "There were DEA agents who worked to conduct political espionage and to fund criminal groups so they could launch attacks on the lives of authorities, if not the president," Morales said. In Washington, United States Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Garrison Courtney said Morales' decision creates "an unfortunate situation," but the agency will find other ways to deal with drug traffic from the Andean nation. "We will find other ways to make sure we keep abreast of the drug-trafficking situation through there," Courtney told reporters.