A member of Bolivia’s Special Force for the Fight Against Drug Trafficking guards drugs seized in San Ramon in January. File Photo by Juan Carlos Torrejon/EPA
Bolivia presented the five pillars of its strategy to combat drug trafficking and transnational organized crime before the international community during a session of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna.
At a session Monday, Government Minister Marco Antonio Oviedo said President Rodrigo Paz’s administration is advancing a new approach aimed at curbing drug trafficking and reducing illegal and excess coca cultivation.
“Bolivia believes that international policies must be based on updated scientific evidence, proportionality and respect for cultural diversity, always within the framework of the conventions,” Oviedo said, according to local outlet FM Bolivia.
The Commission on Narcotic Drugs is the U.N. body in which member states set global drug control policies. It consists of 53 countries from different regions.
During his address, Oviedo said the global drug problem has become increasingly complex and multidimensional and cannot be understood as an isolated phenomenon.
“Today, we face a complex reality that connects security, public health, sustainable development, financial stability and institutional governance,” he said, according to the newspaper La Razón.
He added that drug trafficking has adopted new dynamics and is increasingly linked to other illicit economies, making it an issue that cannot be addressed solely from a national perspective.
Bolivia’s strategy rests on five pillars, with the first focusing on strengthening institutions and expanding international cooperation and the second centering on responsible control of coca leaf cultivation through permanent monitoring systems, traceability mechanisms and measures to reduce diversion into illicit markets.
Authorities said those actions are complemented by sustainable alternative development programs coordinated with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the U.N. agency that supports member states in combating illicit drugs and crime.
The remaining elements of the plan call for improved strategic planning and operational efficiency, prevention policies grounded in a public health approach and stronger international cooperation, and financial integrity measures aimed at dismantling criminal networks linked to drug trafficking.
Oviedo warned of emerging global challenges, including the expansion of synthetic drugs, the proliferation of chemical precursors and the use of global supply chains by organized crime, according to broadcaster Red Uno.
Bolivia is one of three countries that produce coca leaf, along with Colombia and Peru. According to United Nations data, Bolivia has about 31,000 hectares of coca cultivation, of which 22,000 hectares are legally recognized.
While part of the crop is used for traditional and legal consumption of coca leaf, another portion is diverted to cocaine production, placing the country within regional drug trafficking dynamics.
Unlike during the years of governments led by the Movement Toward Socialism party, the current administration has resumed cooperation with the United States in the fight against drug trafficking. U.S. security agencies had not operated in Bolivia since 2008, when the Drug Enforcement Administration was expelled from the country.
