I've Been Meaning to Say That - The Ridiculous Drug War

It is so frustrating day after day reading papers from all over the hemisphere and seeing (reading about) the bodies piling up. I have reached the point where if I am rushed I will ignore any drug killing or cartel corruption story. What angers me most about every narco story is that there we are, the 2 ton elephant in the room that is occaisionally brought out but is more often than not hidden somewhere stage left. That 2 ton elephant is US and our drug policy. A policy that forces other nations to make the difficult decisions. A policy that forces nations with weak institutions and other pressing needs to make our problem their primary concern. It is shameful that the wealthiest nation on the planet should prey on its neighbors in such a manner. We have the drug problem, not Colombia, Peru, Bolivia or Mexico. If there wasn't demand there wouldn't be supply.

Mary Anastacia O'Grady touches on this theme while discussing Evo's plans for Bolivia in todays WSJ. She recaps a lot that I have already linked to here but also discusses Evo's trump card when dealing with the oppo.

Here is O'Grady:

Mr. Chávez had oil revenues to keep the masses happy while he put a noose around democracy. But Evo isn't so fortunate and he can't push through a constitutional coup without popular backing. So to generate support he has relied heavily on his defense of coca growers against a U.S. policy that presses countries in Latin America to destroy their crops.

O'Grady has a great idea on how to short-fuse Evo's radical programs:

Mr. Morales, who badly needs to maintain the appearance of public support so that the international community tolerates his takeover, had to be embarrassed by this outpouring of democratic opposition. He is trying to spin the constitutional crisis as a confrontation between races and economic classes. But he has to worry about places like the poor and largely indigenous city of El Alto, just above La Paz, where there is evidence to suggest that many who voted for him are unhappy with his unlawful intervention in the constitutional process and growing impatient with his failure to deliver on economic promises.

This is where U.S. drug policy comes in. Railing against the Yankees who want to destroy peasant income has proven extremely effective in keeping the Morales base -- the country's indigenous coca growers who brought him to power -- energized and his numbers afloat.

He reaffirmed this last month. As his opposition swelled he suddenly announced that he would authorize a near doubling of the number of hectares that may legally produce coca. Then last week he inaugurated a coca industrialization plant in the province of Cochabamba, financed by his government along with Cuba and Venezuela. According to press reports, Mr. Morales told the Cochabamba crowd that coca "never killed anyone" and that the U.S. "should have a law to do away with drug addicts."

Mr. Morales shouldn't wish too hard for that. If Washington policy makers ever decide to tackle the demand for cocaine and stop blaming supply, Mr. Morales's political career would be in jeopardy.