Word: bolivians
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
According to Defense sources, the Bolivian mission had been planned for some time. Since 1982, when the Administration stepped up the Federal Government's war on drugs, the U.S. military, with some effectiveness, has assisted civilian authorities in seizing incoming shipments of cocaine and other drugs. Partly at the urging of Vice President George Bush, the Army, Air Force and Navy have provided about $21 million worth of operational and maintenance support, including high-tech electronic detection equipment on loan to the Bahamian government as part of "Operation Bat." This was a three-year-old effort to intercept drug smugglers...
...launching their dramatic operation, the Reagan Administration and the Bolivian government tackled a complex problem that seems to be beyond the reach of standard diplomatic or administrative efforts. Dissatisfied with earlier Bolivian attempts to eradicate coca fields, the U.S. State Department in June decided to cut Bolivia's $14.4 million economic support in half. Bolivian officials were hoping last week's raid would prevent any similar slashes in aid next year...
Technically, the procedure for U.S. military assistance called for Bolivian authorities to request the help. In practice, said a Defense Department official, "we sort of told 'em what to ask for." Even so, many Bolivian officials apparently expected to receive reconnaissance planes and helicopters similar to those provided outright to Mexico and Colombia. The spectacular arrival of troops, transport vehicles, trucks, tents and other supplies -- followed by reporters and camera crews trying to charter planes to follow the action -- left the country nonplussed. "All the publicity has been a little rough," said one official. "The operation is a little...
...tried disincentives. Last December the Paz Estenssoro government offered peasants $250 for every hectare of coca they did not harvest. It was all the government thought it could afford. But peasants, who can earn up to $10,000 a hectare by selling coca, were not enthusiastic. The joint U.S.-Bolivian operation against drug processing has a similar purpose: it is intended to force down the value of the leaves, making the crops much less profitable...
...There will be no major arrests and no political arrests. The effect will be zero. Within six months (Bolivian drug production) will be back to normal." That gloomy forecast about "Operation Blast Furnace" was offered last week by James Mills, 54, a veteran investigative reporter who has spent the past six years probing the shadowy world of international drug dealing and the seldom effective efforts of U.S. authorities to cope with it. Mills, author of the newly published The Underground Empire (Doubleday; 1,165 pages; $22.95), was in Washington to promote his book and appear before the House Foreign Affairs...