This cartoon is from El Diario, November 13, 2011. You can see current Bolivian vice-president, in a James Bond posture saying: “The DEA will not return to this country… we don’t need them…! Our security organizations are sufficient!” That is how current Bolivian government perceives the narcotraffick cartels: as children’s play.

Pagina Siete reports: “Bolivia is the major supplier fo cocaine to the South American market” South America was become [sadly enough] the new emerging market on cocaine consumption [long are the days where current president used to say the cocaine addiction was a problem of the imperialist…], it is absorbing 20% of all the world’s drug production. [I always admire the American population as they face their problems, seek for help and have supporting groups; unlike us, the “Latins” who tend to cover our problems, disguising them as if they wouldn’t exist; it is easier to hear an American that he or his family have an addiction than a Latin American; so the problem is more than what is perceived, lack of information hides the real magnitude; how can understand a 20% share of the world’s consumption? Bolivia should be requesting not only the DEA but all international available help to tackle this problem; I do not want to see my country become an Afghanistan with drug lords ruling and killing my countrymen]

Pagina Siete interviewed the UN Office against Drugs and Crime (ONUDC in Spanish), Cesar Guedes. Major highlights are offered here, however if you would like to read the whole Spanish interview, please use the link below:

– eradication takes place at a lower rate of new plantations; there are 31,000 hectares in country and yearly eradication fluctuates between eight to ten thousand hectares per year.

– eradication has to be a peaceful event, social control must be reinforced to prevent re-planting; eradication campaigns must be done in alliance with other countries, no single country could handle this issue alone.

– global cocaine trade represents 85 billion dollars per year; that is four times larger than Bolivia’s GDP.

– Brazil is beginning to be concerned with the 3,400 kilometers of shared border with Bolivia, where there is a larger exchange of illicit businesses. Brazil has to show the world safer cities, stability and a good image, as the world soccer championship and the olympics are just few years ahead.

– Bolivia is coca plant, coca paste and cocaine producer; a producer and exporter of illicit substances. As a result of increased drug consumption in the region, Bolivia has also become a transit country from Colombia and/or Peru.

– Drug that passes through Bolivia: the highest level of cocaine seizures in the world happens in South America, 80% of the total; it is estimated that around 1,000 tons of cocaine is produced (2009 figures), of which 600 tons are seized; leaving 400 tons for consumption, that is around 85 billion dollars. From the available 400 tons, 36% go to USA, which in the 80s consumed 90% which has notably been reduced as a result of lower consumption levels and interdiction. In the last years, consumption has grown, in Europe 30% of those 400 tons are consumed there and now in South America 20%.

– satellite images, overflights and field visits are needed to assess how much coca is in the ground; in some communities/regions our personnel and Bolivian government officials have sensed more threats to our presence, which did not happen before. This worries us, as it is a clear proof that the narcotraffick is buying the wills of the large populations in the area; they are fencing their “work” area to have more protection.

http://www.paginasiete.bo/2011-11-13/Nacional/Destacados/06-07entrevista-001-1113.aspx