Bolivia pledges to speed up anti-drug fight without US help

Bolivian President Evo Morales announced that Bolivia will face the challenge to achieve better results in the anti-drug fight without the support of the United States. "I am absolutely sure that with your (cadets and officials) active participation, we will show that we are better alone than with the United States involved," said Morales at a ceremony in La Paz where he delivered 30 vehicles to the Bolivian Special Force Against Drug-Trafficking (FELCN). He said that the "nationalization" of the anti-drug fight involves the implementation of better policies and strategies than the ones reached with Washington, Xinhua reported. "I do not have to feel desperate over the lack of the support of the US ambassador, of DEA (the US Drug Enforcement Agency) or of USAID (the US Agency for International Development). We should be all proud. The nationalization and regionalization of the anti-drug fight has gained us dignity. We are on the right path," said Morales. He ordered his government to exert all efforts to supply the police anti-narcotics unit with necessary technology, while calling on the police to continue the combat against drugs. "So far we have demonstrated that we are better in the anti-drug fight without the United States," Morales said. In 2008, the Bolivian government expelled US Ambassador Philip Goldberg and accused him of interfering in the country's internal affairs. The government of Evo Morales expelled the DEA from Bolivia in January 2009 and USAID last May for the same reasons. The United States had 40 years of participation in anti-drug campaigns in Bolivia.