Bolivia signs $20m deal with US to fight drug trafficking
Bolivia's new government has signed a $20 million security cooperation deal with the United States, ending a 17-year break in joint counter-narcotics work. The agreement will return DEA teams to La Paz and launch a new satellite programme to monitor coca cultivation in the Cochabamba region.
Bolivian Interior Minister Eduardo Castillo and the head of the US Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs signed the $20 million security accord in La Paz on Tuesday. Bolivia's new president, Jorge Quiroga, pledged on taking office to re-establish diplomatic ties with Washington.
The agreement returns DEA officers to Bolivian territory for the first time since they were expelled in 2008 under Evo Morales. Castillo told reporters, « we have to realistically accept that we cannot fight organised crime alone. » US Ambassador Brian Nichols said the programme would meet UN Office on Drugs and Crime standards.
The coca growers' federation (Cocaleros) condemned the deal and announced a rally on Thursday in the Chapare region. Bolivia's coca crop reached 34,000 hectares in 2025, the highest level in a decade, according to a UN report. Joint operations against cocaine laboratories along the Brazilian and Peruvian borders are scheduled to begin in September.
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