A great post over at Andean Information Network about the apparent double standard the USA imposes on the cocaine manufacturing countries of Peru and Bolivia. There are some illuminating charts at the AIN post which I’m not pasting here (you click through for those, it’s only fair) but here’s the top-page blurb of the post:
On March 7, the US released the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report. Drug policy advocates have long criticized the yardsticks used by the US government to measure efficacy in drug control. But even by US standards, Bolivia surpasses Peru in most categories, though the US certified Peru and determined that Bolivia “failed demonstrably to make sufficient efforts to meet its obligation under counter-narcotics (CN) conventions.” When seen alongside these figures, the US verdict gives the impression that there are unspoken conditions for certification, and that countries that follow US policy dictates are more likely to receive US approval and funding regardless of the numbers.
Click here for more and make sure you link through to the main piece at the bottom of the AIN post. By the way, it’s also interesting to compare the views of the politically biased USA to those of the UN on Bolivia’s efforts against the cocaine trade. Just yesterday the UN said Bolivia’s efforts were (translated), “a success in coca eradication, breaking up drug rings and seizures, but need to do more“. Nuff said.