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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 8:43 pm
Time: 8:43 pm
Results for drug trafficking (bolivia)
2 results foundAuthor: Farah, Douglas Title: Into the Abyss: Bolivia Under Evo Morales and the MAS Summary: When Evo Morales won an overwhelming victory in Bolivia's December 2005 presidential elections, it signaled a historic new chapter in the nation's political history. For the first time in decades a presidential candidate won an outright electoral majority, garnering almost 54 percent of the vote. Morales, an indigenous peasant who remains the head of the cocalero (coca growers) union, inherited a country that had lived through three years of permanent crisis and the resulting deep disillusionment with the traditional political parties. On taking office Morales promised to oversee the "refounding" of the Bolivian republic based on socialist and indigenous precepts to be enshrined in a new constitution, a sharp repudiation of traditionally close ties to the United States and its counter-drug efforts, and fundamental restructuring of foreign investment laws. However, he pledged to work with all Bolivians within the context of respect for the rule of law and tolerance. Those promises of inclusive governance have been breached almost from the beginning of the MAS government, leading Bolivia to its worst political crisis since the hard-fought return to democratic rule in 1982. Morales recently proclaimed himself a "Marxist-Leninist," further dimming the prospects of developing a pluralistic, tolerant political structure. And while the government has fashioned itself as nationalistic and unaccepting of outside interference, foreigners have seldom exercised more influence that they do today, from those of Spanish intellectuals who helped draft the new constitution and military doctrine to the significant presence of Venezuelan military and governmental advisers and direct involvement creating the voter registration rolls to the Cuban and Iranian presence in the intelligence structures and economic activity. The Morales government has also allowed formal and informal ties to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-FARC), a designated terrorist and drug trafficking entity by both the United States and the European Union to flourish. This is due in part to the relationships maintained by close Morales advisers, including his vice president, to armed groups in the region. Relations between Bolivia and the United States are at one of their lowest points ever, and, despite recent high-level talks, that situation is unlikely to change in the near future. The cost of such radical and rapid change has been high, and could well spell the end to Bolivia's territorial integrity and existence as a liberal democratic state. Morales' tenure has been marked by: o Unprecedented regional and ethnic tensions that have led to violence; o The systematic de-institutionalization of the nation's fragile democratic structures, including the judiciary and independent auditing agencies; o A complete restructuring of the military patterned after the Venezuelan model of integrating the armed forces into a host of civic and traditionally civilian roles; o A radical restructuring of the military doctrine, endorsing the asymmetrical warfare tactics embraced and employed by radical Islamist groups and formally adopted by Hugo Chávez and the Venezuelan military; o A complete restructuring of the nation's intelligence apparatus, advised by Cuban and Venezuelan experts on internal security; o Growing ties to the FARC and other armed groups in Latin America; o Permanent confrontation, insults and attacks-verbal and physical-on members of the press, leading to numerous international expressions of concern; o A growing intolerance for all lawful opposition and the use of mass mobilizations, often violent, to intimidate the opposition and confiscate personal property, severely impinging on the legal rights of the minority; o Significant corruption that has reached to the inner circle of the MAS; o Increased cocaine trafficking, in part due to the changing nature of Latin American drug trafficking and in part because of Morales' own policies, that are accelerating the process of widespread criminalization; o A widespread breakdown in the rule of law and the use of illegal detention against opposition leaders; o Legitimate concerns about the significant foreign intervention, including evidence that the voter registration rolls, (padrón electoral) have been tampered with by the Venezuelan officials. These developments do not bode well for Bolivia or Latin America if one values the hard-fought return to democracy after years of military dictatorship in most of these countries. The price paid by many of the leaders of the democratization process, who are now being called reactionaries and traitors, was high. The international dimension to the regional trends are exacerbated because the move toward autocracy has been accompanied by the mentorship and funds of Hugo Chávez and the embrace of Iran, the world's foremost state sponsor of terrorism and financier of state and non-state armed groups that have carried out numerous successful terrorist attacks. Finally, these countries are bound most strongly by a single factor--a declared hatred for the United States and a public-stated desire to see it disappear from the face of the earth. Details: Alexandria, VA: International Assessment and Strategy Center, 2009. 43p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 7, 2011 at: http://www.strategycenter.net/docLib/20090618_IASCIntoTheAbyss061709.pdf Year: 2009 Country: Bolivia URL: http://www.strategycenter.net/docLib/20090618_IASCIntoTheAbyss061709.pdf Shelf Number: 121272 Keywords: Drug Trafficking (Bolivia)Violence |
Author: Government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia Title: The Bolivia Country Program 2010-2015. Capacity Building in Response to Drugs, Organized Crime, Terrorism, Corruption, and Economic Crime Threats in Bolivia Summary: Bolivia is located in the center of South America and shares borders with Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile and Peru. Extending across 1,098,581 km (424,160 sq miles), it has an estimated population of 10 million inhabitants (2009), 66% of whom live in urban areas. According to the Constitution, Bolivia is a Social, Unitary State of Plurinational Communitarian Law, free, independent, sovereign, democratic, intercultural, decentralized and with autonomies. It was founded on political, economic, judicial, cultural and linguistic plurality and pluralism, within the integrative process of the country. In 2005, approximately 59% of the population was living without their basic needs satisfied, and 37% lived in extreme poverty. In 2007, the estimated per capita income was US $1,363 a year. The life expectancy rate is 63 years, while the infant mortality rate for this same period was defined at 61 for every 1000 live births. After a long period characterized by political instability and social conflicts, in 2005 indigenous leader Evo Morales was elected President of what is now the Plurinational State of Bolivia, marking the beginning of a period of profound political and socioeconomic change. A Constitutional Assembly was summoned to enact these changes, and at the end of 2008 a new constitutional text was approved, which enabled all institutional structures to be adapted to the new ethno-cultural and regional plurality of the country. The New Political State Constitution incorporates important advances and changes in citizen rights, gender, natural resources and administration of justice. The Government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia has shifted from a neoliberal development model to a mixed economy, where the State plays a greater role in the economy. In so doing, the State has taken control of the principal source of income in the country: hydrocarbons, namely natural gas, and is promoting other important industrial development projects in the fields of metallurgy, construction, food and paper. The surplus generated from natural gas exportation to neighboring countries contributes to income redistribution policies, in addition to boosting the national petroleum company. In this way, the past few years have witnessed the creation of wealth redistribution mechanisms aimed at reversing the existing conditions of poverty and inequality, such as the Dignity Payment for senior citizens, the Juancito Pinto Bond for the student population and the Juana Azurduy Bond for pregnant women. The principal macroeconomic indicators show that the Bolivian economy has improved. From 2006-2009, the GDP grew at an average annual rate of 4.8%, the inflation was 0.3% at the end of this period and the fiscal surplus was 2.5% of the GDP. Private foreign inversion recovered in 2006, at US $278 million, topping off at US $370 million in 2008. Exportations in 2008 reached US $4,846 million, resulting in a positive trade balance of US $1,223 million. In 2009 the external public debt increased to US $2,583 million, following an important reduction in previous years. These indicators show a generally positive economic performance within a framework of both internal and external macroeconomic stability, providing greater strength to the Bolivian State´s fight against poverty. The Government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, encouraged by the U.N., is making important efforts to reach the Millennium Goals. Bolivia has been declared the third country in the region free of illiteracy, with the backing of UNESCO. Likewise, gender gaps in primary education and infant and maternal mortality rates have been reduced, and basic sanitary services have reached a considerable proportion of the rural population. In Bolivia, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has been working since the end of the 1980s on alternative development projects in coca growing regions, including the construction of infrastructure for social and productive uses, improving agricultural production, encouraging forestry and agroforestry development, promoting the microbusiness sector and job skills training. The UNODC also implemented drug prevention programs within the educational system, as well as strengthening the government entities related to controlling drug use and related crimes, including the implementation of informational systems for monitoring coca plantations, alternative development and illegal drug use. Technical cooperation activities have been reduced in the past few years, from an annual portfolio of US $5.4 million in 2002 to US $1.6 million in 2009. As a result, in April of 2009, the UNODC representative finalized his/her mission in the country and decided to reduce office personnel, as the reduced volume of activities no longer justified a Representation Office in Bolivia. As of June of 2009, development program activities were administered with the aid of the Latin America and the Caribbean Unit (LACU/DO) of UNODC, based in Vienna. In June of 2009, the Government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia requested that the Executive Director of the UNODC maintain Office Representation status in the country and continue providing technical assistance. They also asked the European Commission to reinforce the UNODC´s financial cooperation program in the country. In response to this request, the UNODC sent a programming mission headed by the Head of the Latin American and the Caribbean Unit to the country in October of 2009. The objectives of the mission were: i) Prepare a Country Program 2010- 2015 document in direct collaboration with State institutions and international organizations; ii) Exchange criteria with the Government authorities of the Plurinational State of Bolivia about the reestablishment of an active/functional Office of Representation; and iii) Support the implementation of the profile of projects currently in process. In order for the Country Program to be prepared with accurate information, the agenda of the mission included a workshop with participants from governmental institutions and international organizations. The participants analyzed the current status of the fight against drugs, organized crime and corruption. They also identified priority areas where the UNODC could provide technical assistance. Sixty three representatives of 12 different State institutions working in drug and crime prevention were present at the workshop, as well as 19 counterparts from international organizations. The workshop´s success was a result of the participants´ interest in the topic, the high level of discussion generated and the quality of proposals which were produced. This UNODC Bolivia Country Program (2010-2015) reflects the primary conclusions and recommendations which came out of the workshop, as well as information obtained in interviews with the participating institutions. Details: La Paz, Bolivia: Government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, 2010. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 7, 2013 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/bolivia//proyectos_bolivia/The_UNODC_Bolivia_Country_Program_2010-2015.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Bolivia URL: http://www.unodc.org/documents/bolivia//proyectos_bolivia/The_UNODC_Bolivia_Country_Program_2010-2015.pdf Shelf Number: 127529 Keywords: CorruptionDrug Abuse and CrimeDrug Trafficking (Bolivia)Economic CrimeOrganized CrimeTerrorism |