Bolivia signs $20m anti-drug deal with US, ending years of severed ties

According to the foreign ministry, Bolivia and the US have agreed on a $20 million cooperation package aimed at combating drug trafficking and organised crime. The deal includes technical assistance, training and intelligence sharing. The previous Bolivian government had expelled US counter-narcotics programmes from the country, and diplomatic contacts had largely stopped.

Bolivia has long been a producer of coca leaf, cocaine's raw material; trafficking routes from the country's forested regions to markets in Brazil, Chile and Europe have widened in recent years. The new government argues that organised-crime networks are straining domestic security and that going it alone has proved insufficient. That is why it is rebuilding the bridge with Washington.

US officials called the agreement a positive step for regional stability. The decision is also seen as aligned with the economic-incentive approach that has defined the US's Latin America diplomacy in recent months. Bolivia's opposition, meanwhile, argues that the government has not adequately addressed sovereignty concerns, keeping the domestic debate alive.