[News] Venezuela, Bolivia, and the Fight Against Drugs
Anti-Imperialist News
news at freedomarchives.org
Fri Oct 3 15:56:14 EDT 2008
U.S. DRUG REPORT: A POLITICAL WEAPON
http://www.rethinkvenezuela.com/downloads/Drugs%20in%20the%20Andes.htm
Venezuela, Bolivia, and the Fight Against Drugs
On September 16th 2008, less than a week after
Bolivian President Evo Morales declared US
Ambassador Philip Goldberg “persona non grata” on
the grounds that he helped foment political
divisions in Bolivia, the Bush White House
released its annual list of Major Drug Transit or
Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries. For the
first time, Bolivia was designated as having
“failed demonstrably” over the past year to
combat drug trafficking. According to the
so-called “Majors List,” only Bolivia, Venezuela,
and Burma failed to meet their international
obligations in the fight against drugs, with
Venezuela and Bolivia cited mainly for cocaine trafficking.
Venezuela has been on the Majors List for the
last four years, despite having achieved the
fourth largest number of cocaine seizures of any
country in the world.[i] In early September,
INTERPOL praised Venezuela and the officials of
its National Anti-Drug Agency for their capture
of an internationally wanted Colombian drug lord and his accomplice.[ii]
Bolivia has also earned the praise of the
international community in recent months. The
United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, in its
2008 World Drug Report, notes that current coca
cultivation in Bolivia remains “well under annual
totals during the early and mid 1990s.”[iii] Time
Magazine confirmed Bolivia’s anti-drug success,
pointing out that “coca cultivation is under
control and drug trafficking interdiction is up.”[iv]
Data cited by the UN demonstrates ongoing efforts
by Bolivia and Venezuela to fight drug
trafficking, and directly contradicts the claim
made by the White House that these countries
failed to meet international standards. Experts
have highlighted this discrepancy. “I’m not at
all surprised because the drug certification
process has been so tainted and archly
politicized,” said Larry Birns, Executive
Director of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs in Washington, DC.[v]
Indeed, the decision to blacklist Bolivia and
Venezuela demonstrates the Bush administration’s
patent disregard for facts in its quest to
demonize the governments of these two countries.
In addition, it calls into question the wisdom of
U.S. drug policy, which sponsors failed
eradication programs abroad while doing little to
reduce the huge demand for illicit drugs within its own borders.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Analyses of the question of drugs in Latin
America too often pass over the historical
context of the region. In the Andes, the
cultivation and consumption of coca leaves dates
back over 4,000 years to the pre-Columbian
civilizations. Coca leaves are chewed and used in
spiritual and social settings, as well as for
medicinal purposes in herbal teas and
poultices.[vi] Communities have continued to rely
on this traditional crop to help cope with the
extreme environmental conditions in which they
live, particularly the high altitudes.
Given the legitimate uses of the coca leaf and
the historical importance of this plant in the
Andean region, the use of coca-bush eradication
as the primary means to limit cocaine production
is misguided and ineffective. As part of its “War
on Drugs,” the U.S. strongly promotes coca
eradication in Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia – the
three countries which produce the vast majority of the world’s cocaine.
In 2007, global potential cocaine production
reached 994 metric tons (mt), with 600 mt, 60%
of total production, coming from Colombia,
followed by 290 mt from Peru, and 104 mt from
Bolivia. Colombia, the country with the largest
cocaine production in the world, saw a 27%
increase in coca cultivation between 2006 and
2007, despite full cooperation with the DEA
through Plan Colombia, a counter-narcotics
program in which the U.S. has invested nearly $5
billion over eight years.[vii] Meanwhile, Peru
and Bolivia saw much smaller increases in
cultivation, just 4% and 5% respectively.[viii]
Despite massive U.S. spending on Plan Colombia,
the initiative has largely failed due to its
emphasis on aerial spraying and other ineffective
eradication techniques. In 2007, coca eradication
in Colombia simply led to the crop being planted in other parts of the country.
BOLIVIA
President Evo Morales of Bolivia has in recent
years garnered media attention for advocating the
legitimate uses of the coca leaf and the right of
farmers to grow the crop for traditional reasons.
However, he has not been the first Bolivian
leader to do this. At a World Health Organization
Assembly in 1992, then President Paz Zamora noted
that “coca is an Andean tradition while cocaine is a Western habit.”[ix]
In 2006, after President Morales was elected,
Bolivia destroyed significantly more coca
maceration pits and coca processing laboratories
(both used to create cocaine), than in previous
years.[x] While the Bush administration accuses
Bolivia of failing to fight drugs, the 2008 UN
World Drug Report makes clear that cocaine
seizures are actually on the rise in Bolivia.[xi]
Seizures of cocaine in Bolivia have risen from 14
tons in 2006 to 17 tons in 2007, meanwhile, Peru
and Colombia conducted fewer seizures.[xii]
There has been a significant increase in targeted
coca eradication in Bolivia; between 2006 and
2007, the amount of coca crops destroyed went
from 12,528 acres to 15,491 acres.[xiii] Still,
President Morales has promoted the
industrialization of legitimate coca-based
products, such as tea, medicine, shampoo, and cookies.
President Morales has been successful in limiting
coca crops grown for illicit use while permitting
limited cultivation for legitimate use in small
1600-square meter plots called catos. This policy
has been successful in large part due to the
cooperation of coca growers. Elmerjildo Chávez, a
coca grower from the Yungas region, said, “we
make sure no one is growing too much, and that
our coca is being sold to people who sell it for
traditional uses and not for cocaine.” By
monitoring crop tallies and buyer licenses, coca
grower unions are able to limit how much of the
plant is being produced, while making sure that
the coca leaves are sold for legitimate purposes.[xiv]
VENEZUELA
Quite different from the case of Bolivia is that
of Venezuela, a country that does not produce
cocaine but is vulnerable to drug trafficking
because of its geographic positioning between the
world’s largest producer – Colombia – and its largest consumer – the U.S.
In order to address these circumstances,
Venezuela’s counter-narcotics efforts have been
aggressive, making it the country with the fourth
largest amount of cocaine seizures in the world.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
has made policing more difficult for Venezuela by
blocking the sale of chemical reagents needed to
detect cocaine, heroin, and amphetamines, and
instead requiring the country to produce its own
reagents for drug enforcement.[xv]
The U.S. has also complicated Venezuela’s
anti-drug efforts by imposing an embargo on all
military equipment containing U.S. parts. This
measure has blocked the sale of anti-narcotics
vehicles including Spanish patrol boats and
Brazilian aircraft. Nonetheless, since 2005, when
Venezuela ended full cooperation with DEA agents
allegedly involved in espionage, cocaine seizures
have risen from an average of 27.1 mt annually
between 2002 and 2004 to an average of 43.2 mt
per year between 2005 and 2007.[xvi]
In order to reduce cocaine smuggling in and out
of the country, the Venezuelan armed forces have
detected and destroyed 223 illicit landing strips
so far in 2008.[xvii] Furthermore, Venezuela is
installing seven Chinese-made radar stations
throughout the country that will make it easier
to detect and stop planes carrying illicit drugs.[xviii]
THE UNITED STATES
The U.S. remains the largest market for cocaine
in the world. By UN estimates, 460 metric tons –
or 46% of all cocaine – was consumed in North
American markets in 2006.[xix] U.S.-backed coca
eradication programs (namely aerial spraying) are
largely perceived by experts as ineffective,
unfair. and discriminatory. This is because they
fail to reduce coca production while negatively
affecting the health and welfare of peasants,
whose fields are sprayed regardless of whether or
not they are involved in the cocaine trade.
The State Department already recognizes that the
problem begins at home; the 2008 International
Narcotics Control Strategy Report states that
“the need for demand reduction is reflected in
escalating drug use that takes a devastating toll
on health, welfare, safety, security, and
economic stability of all nations.”[xx]
With this in mind, reducing the enormous demand
for cocaine within U.S. borders should be made a
priority. Also, instead of funding ineffective
and expensive crop eradication programs with
taxpayer dollars, the U.S. could take a
leadership role in anti-narcotics by funding
programs to help countries better detect drugs at
their own ports, locate and destroy drug
processing facilities, and halt money laundering by drug traffickers.
CONCLUSION
The decision by the White House to label
Venezuela and Bolivia as countries that “failed
demonstrably” to combat drugs is a politically
motivated one that lacks factual basis. Bolivia’s
success in fighting drug trafficking has been
well documented by the media as well as
international agencies. Important in this
struggle, though, has been the search to avoid
dismantling the traditional practices centered
around the coca plant in Bolivia.
Meanwhile, cocaine seizures have risen
significantly in Venezuela over the past few
years and authorities in that country have
demonstrated their commitment to the fight
against drug trafficking through initiatives such
as the destruction of an unprecedented number of illicit airstrips.
In addition to these efforts, leaders in
Venezuela and Bolivia have called for much more
significant measures to be taken to diminish the
demand for cocaine abroad. Both countries
recognize that there must be a dramatic decline
in the demand for cocaine in order for any
permanent reductions in supply to be achieved.
Instead of dedicating resources to ineffective
and unfair drug eradication policies in other
countries, the U.S. would be wise to increase
efforts to reduce demand for cocaine and other
illicit drugs through increased drug education,
prevention, and rehabilitation programs at home.
[i] 2008 World Drug Report, United Nations Office
on Drugs and Crime.
<http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr/WDR_2008/WDR_2008_eng_web.pdf>http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr/WDR_2008/WDR_2008_eng_web.pdf.
[ii] “INTERPOL lauds Venezuelan capture of
suspected Colombian drug lord and accomplice,”
September 8, 2008.
<http://www.interpol.int/Public/ICPO/PressReleases/PR2008/PR200845.asp>http://www.interpol.int/Public/ICPO/PressReleases/PR2008/PR200845.asp
[iii] 2008 World Drug Report, United Nations
Office on Drugs and Crime.
<http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr/WDR_2008/WDR_2008_eng_web.pdf>http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr/WDR_2008/WDR_2008_eng_web.pdf.
[iv] “Bolivia’s Surprising Anti-Drug Success, ”
Jean Friedman, Time Magazine, August 5, 2008.
<http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1829782,00.html>http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1829782,00.html
[v] “US Lists Major Drug Producing and
Trafficking Countries, Names Only Bolivia, Burma,
and Venezuela as Not Complying, ” Council on
Hemispheric Affairs, September 19, 2008.
<http://www.coha.org/2008/09/us-lists-major-drug-producing-and-trafficking-countries-names-only-bolivia-burma-and-venezuela-as-not-complying/>http://www.coha.org/2008/09/us-lists-major-drug-producing-and-trafficking-countries-names-only-bolivia-burma-and-venezuela-as-not-complying/.
[vi] “Coca: An Andean Cultural Tradition,” John
H. Burrows, Center for World Indigenous Studies.
<http://www.erowid.org/plants/coca/coca_info1.shtml>http://www.erowid.org/plants/coca/coca_info1.shtml
[vii] “President Bush Vows to Fight Drug Trade in
Latin America,” Online NewsHour, PBS, March, 12,
2007.
<http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/latin_america/jan-june07/drugwars_03-12.html>http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/latin_america/jan-june07/drugwars_03-12.html.
[viii] 2008 World Drug Report, United Nations
Office on Drugs and Crime.
<http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr/WDR_2008/WDR_2008_eng_web.pdf>http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr/WDR_2008/WDR_2008_eng_web.pdf.
[ix] “Coca: An Andean Cultural Tradition,” John
H. Burrows, Center for World Indigenous Studies.
<http://www.erowid.org/plants/coca/coca_info1.shtml>http://www.erowid.org/plants/coca/coca_info1.shtml
[x] 2008 World Drug Report, United Nations Office
on Drugs and Crime.
<http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr/WDR_2008/WDR_2008_eng_web.pdf>http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr/WDR_2008/WDR_2008_eng_web.pdf.
[xi] Ibid.
[xii] “Bolivia dice a EEUU que sus éxitos
antidroga superan los de Colombia y Perú,” AFP,
September 28, 2008.
<http://www.univision.com/contentroot/wirefeeds/noticias/7608646.html>http://www.univision.com/contentroot/wirefeeds/noticias/7608646.html.
[xiii] 2008 World Drug Report, United Nations
Office on Drugs and Crime.
<http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr/WDR_2008/WDR_2008_eng_web.pdf>http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr/WDR_2008/WDR_2008_eng_web.pdf.
[xiv] “Bolivia’s Surprising Anti-Drug Success, ”
Jean Friedman, Time Magazine, August 5, 2008.
<http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1829782,00.html>http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1829782,00.html
[xv] “Venezuela to use nationally produced
chemical reagents to detect drugs,” Bolivarian
News Agency, September 2, 2008.
<http://www.embavenez-us.org/news.php?nid=4468>http://www.embavenez-us.org/news.php?nid=4468
[xvi] “Venezuela’s Fight against Drug
Trafficking,” Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic
of Venezuela.
<http://www.embavenez-us.org/factsheet/FS-Drug-Sept2008.pdf>http://www.embavenez-us.org/factsheet/FS-Drug-Sept2008.pdf
[xvii] “Venezuela destruyó 223 pistas
clandestinas en su combate al narcotráfico,” AFP, September 11, 2008.
[xviii] “Venezuela’s Fight against Drug
Trafficking,” Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic
of Venezuela.
<http://www.embavenez-us.org/factsheet/FS-Drug-Sept2008.pdf>http://www.embavenez-us.org/factsheet/FS-Drug-Sept2008.pdf
[xix] 2008 World Drug Report, United Nations
Office on Drugs and Crime.
<http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr/WDR_2008/WDR_2008_eng_web.pdf>http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr/WDR_2008/WDR_2008_eng_web.pdf.
[xx] “2008 International Narcotics Control
Strategy Report,” United States Department of
State, February 29, 2008.
<http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/102583.pdf>http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/102583.pdf.
The <http://www.veninfo.org/>Venezuela
Information Office is dedicated to informing the
American public about contemporary Venezuela, and
receives its funding from the government of
Venezuela. Further information is available from
the FARA office of the Department of Justice in Washington, DC.
Freedom Archives
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San Francisco, CA 94110
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