BOLIVIA: Bolivia's President Evo Morales finds common ground with United States, after meeting U.S. ambassador

Record ID: 872738

  • Title: BOLIVIA: Bolivia's President Evo Morales finds common ground with United States, after meeting U.S. ambassador
  • Date: 20th February 2006
  • Summary: (AM) EL CHAPARE, BOLIVIA (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SEIZED COCAINE BEING BURNED IN THE CHAPARE REGION BY DRUG CONTROL OFFICERS (2 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 7th March 2006 12:00
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  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA9XF2EIFAFQJNBHB0QOQ0S352B
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  • Story Text: Bolivian President Evo Morales said on Sunday (February 19) he had found common ground with the United States in less than a month as president -- even on the sensitive issue of drugs policy.
    Morales, a coca farmer who described his movement as a "nightmare for the U.S." while campaigning, was speaking a day after meeting Washington's ambassador to Bolivia -- the world's third-biggest cocaine producer after Colombia and Peru.
    "With the ambassador of the United States we have several points of view in common such as the defense of democracy and the battle against corruption," said Morales, who said they agreed on 'zero cocaine.' Morales is a leftist who has pledged to fight the drugs trade while promoting legal uses of coca leaves.
    The United States funds coca eradication programs in Bolivia's tropical Chapare region, where it says most coca, the raw material for cocaine, ends up with drug smugglers. Poor farmers say coca is mostly used for traditional purposes, from hunger suppressants to protection against altitude sickness.
    Morales admitted that the eradication of excess coca plants was still a potential point of conflict with the United States for as long as it maintains a policy of 'zero coca'.
    Following Saturday afternoon's meeting with Morales, U.S. ambassador David Greenlee told local television he was concerned about the pace of eradication in the Chapare.
    Yesterday's meeting followed a series of tentative contacts between Washington and Morales since his December 18 election. As well as his policy on coca, Washington is wary of his close friendships with fellow leftists President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Cuba's Fidel Castro.
    Morales met Greenlee before he was sworn into office last month and also held talks with Washington's top Latin America official Thomas Shannon who attended his January 22. inauguration.
    At the start of this month, U.S. President George W. Bush telephoned Morales to congratulate him on his election victory and expressed hope for a dialogue.
    Last week, Morales put himself at odds with his coca farmer allies by saying U.S. anti-drugs officials could stay in Bolivia as long as they respected its "dignity and sovereignty". The coca growers had passed a resolution to deport them.
    On Sunday, Morales reiterated his position. "They are going to stay as long as they do not violate human rights," he told a news conference in the presidential palace.
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