zombienotes | 12.20.2005
Prohibition - the "War on Drugs" has never had a prayer of working as stated.
The triumph of Evo Morales in Bolivia contains a couple plain lessons for Americans, but getting these lessons into thier consciousness is a difficult trick.
While
cocaine - the potent and psychologically-addicting drug made from concentrating the compounds in the coca leaf - is a genuine problem, the coca leaf itself is not. It's a traditional plant and has been part of the daily life of people in South Americas countries since before "recorded history".
Plan Colombia and the "War on Drugs" has been a smokescreen for ambiguous goals of the US Federal Government (it's no small coincidence, for example, that Colombia is known to have significant oil reserves, as yet untapped, and cocaine trafficking provides certain groups with clandestine monies for clandestine activities).
The people of South America are tired and very resentful of US interference in thier countries and Morales "landslide win" is nothing less than a reflection of that sentiment.
A View from the Chapare and CochabambaSunday 11pm: There's fireworks in the sky and people filling the streets, chanting "Evo, Evo, Evo!" Outside the MAS headquarters once again, I am surrounded by glowing faces and could feel the joy all around me. Evo's victory is sealed and the people on the streets are elated.
Sunday, Midnight: "This day is not about Evo. It's about the people that voted for him and it's about what they were voting for," my brother said to me a few hours ago. He's right. In their eyes, Evo represents an alternative to a system long dictated by outsiders. "Evo" is hope and change, indigenous self-determinism and people's sovereignty. Today is about the fact that people made that choice, that the majority of Bolivians want a leader with this message. Perhaps Evo's proposed policies don't do justice to these sentiments. Maybe he will have trouble reforming hydrocarbons law or standing up to the US backlash to his coca-decriminalization talk. But his ascendancy to the Presidency represents something unimaginable for the majority poor and indigenous across this country. One of them has arrived. And that's what today is all about.
Meanwhile, Americans remain amazingly cowed by US Federal (republican) drug propaganda.
COWED, dammit.
They still believe the lies pumped out of the ONDCP through thier TVs hook, line, and sinker.
While the American people are waking up to the clear and present danger of Team Bush and the GOP plan for destroying their futures, they still snooze blissfully when it comes to the realities of the war on (non-pharmaceutical) drugs. It sucks their pockets dry - $20 billion a year for the last decade or longer and absolutely nothing but lies, widespread police and government corruption and dead people to show for this effort.
The people in South America have so much to teach Americans about demanding truth and accountibility from their government.
And ambitious and caring (sic) American politicians in this country have some valuable lessons to glean from Morales open defiance of the ultra-corrupt "War on Drugs", mainly that it's time to champion a change. It is time to talk about reform, about "moving on" as much of the world is doing.
Bolivia's Morales further slams US drug policies Quote: COCHABAMBA, Bolivia (Reuters) - Evo Morales, who won Bolivia's presidential election on vows to end a U.S. campaign against coca growing, stepped up his criticism of American anti-drug policies on Monday, accusing Washington of using drug fighting efforts to militarize the region.
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"The fight against drug trafficking is a false pretext for the United States to install military bases and we're not in agreement," he told reporters.
"We support an effective fight against drugs. Neither cocaine or drug trafficking are part of the Bolivian culture," he said in his stronghold of Cochabamba as the first official results from Sunday's vote trickled in.
Washington considers Morales, who first rose to power as the leader of the country's coca leaf farmers, an enemy in its anti-drug fight in Bolivia, the third biggest cocaine producer after Colombia and Peru.
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The U.S. government insists much of Bolivia's coca is processed into cocaine, but farmers say they grow the plant for traditional medicinal uses, herbal teas and religious ceremonies.
According to UN statistics, Bolivia put 107 tons of cocaine on world markets last year. The United States spends $150 million a year on anti-drug efforts in Bolivia.
Some analysts said the United States should move quickly to engage Morales and discuss ways to bridge their differences.
"I would hope that Morales' position would lead to the U.S. taking a more realistic policy because if there's one thing we've learned in last 20 years is we can't stop the drug trade," said Nicolas Shumway, director of the Institute of Latin American Studies at the University of Texas, Austin.
"What I'm hoping is the U.S. will listen to him and try and hear his concerns and not just try to impose a policy on Bolivia unilaterally," Shumway said.