Reply #23: More on that US cocaine interest in Bolivia going back as far as Nixon: [View All]

[Judi Lynn]

Bolivia, the Drug War, and a Leaf
Two years ago, Gary Payne and his son Sayer traveled to Colombia to investigate the impact of the U.S.-led drug war there. Shocked by their discoveries, they traveled to Bolivia this summer to continue investigating drug eradication efforts and to seek the views of Bolivians. This report covers the findings of their 1800 kilometer writer-photographer journey.

By Gary Payne
October 2, 2003

In the narrow cobbled streets of old La Paz, Bolivia, stands the Museo de la Coca (Coca Museum). In it, an ancient clay mask dates from before the birth of Christ. A telltale coca bulge along the lower jaw of the mask shows that the artist’s subject—real or imagined—had a cheek full. The message is clear: everyday use of the coca leaf in Bolivia is a tradition as old as the roots of its civilization.

Bolivians do not view coca, in its natural leaf form, as unhealthy or criminogenic. Its effect is only mildly stronger and more entertaining than one might experience from strong coffee. We noted in our travels that the coca leaf is offered as a gift, hoarded by healers, employed by the poor to curb hunger, and even substituted for coins to make change in rural areas. From the perspective of a visiting American, the Bolivian people are responsible and conservative in their use of it. They do not seek to abuse coca by using the refined extract.

Not surprisingly, the U.S. government’s demand for the total eradication of Bolivian coca crops met with more than a little resistance there. Most Bolivians do not find it in their interest to eradicate one of their traditional pleasures in order to please a foreign government.

Moreover, the U.S. eradication policy had a tarnished beginning. According to Museo de la Coca, the plan to eradicate coca was originally hatched in a 1971 meeting of then U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in the Nixon administration, and then unelected Bolivian leader Hugo Banzer, previously a trainee at the infamous School of the Americas. Both men have been widely accused of substantial human rights violations.
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http://www.americas.org/item_20



Hugo Banzer of Bolivia and Augusto Pinochet of Chile, both Nixon-approved
right-wing dictators.

Chilean human rights lawyers, many of whom also represent victims in the Caravan of Death case, have filed a criminal case against Henry Kissinger, Augusto Pinochet, former Bolivian dictator Hugo Banzer, former Argentine dictator Jorge Rafael Videla, former Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner, and several other US, Chilean, and Argentine officials for their role in Operation Condor.

Operation Condor was the campaign of terror that united the security forces of South American dictatorships to exchange intelligence and carry out joint operations against "subversives," including international assassinations. Recently declassified documents have shown that the US was aware of Operation Condor from its inception, and at least one document suggests that a US military base in Panama may have served as a communications center for Condor operatives.
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http://www.tni.org/pin-watch/watch37.htm