Bolivia surprises people by successfully not toeing the U.S. line

In Time Magazine: Bolivia’s Surprising Anti-Drug Success

Morales has proven to be a skilled switch- hitter: Coca cultivation is under control and drug trafficking interdiction is up. The U.S. acknowledges the achievements, even as it remains skeptical of Morales’ policies on the industrialization of non-narcotic coca products. Still, Morales has managed to meet at least some of the goals of the U.S. on his own terms, without turning into an enemy of his own people.

Now, obviously, Morales could do a lot better if there wasn’t a U.S. drug war to begin with, or if he didn’t feel the need to prove himself a drug warrior in order to continue to collect U.S. coin and avoid U.S. sanctions.
Even still, he’s managed to shut up the entire U.S. and U.N. drug war machine that has tried to claim that nothing short of total eradication of the coca plant is an option. They don’t like to admit that illicit plants can have beneficial uses.
And here’s the really embarrassing part …

Bolivia’s coca cultivation increased 5% in 2007, but that’s minimal compared to Colombia’s 26% increase over the same period