Evo Morales Says US Drug War Benefits US Capitalism

Bolivian President Evo Morales described drug trafficking as “a war that only benefits U.S.” capitalism at the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Venezuela.

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“The fight against drug trafficking is a tool of control for the United States,” said Morales, who strongly opposes the U.S. drug war in Latin America. The president added that wherever drug trafficking grows is wherever the U.S. is, and only benefits the world capitalist system.  

Morales also hit out at U.S. foreign policy across the world saying that the NAM movement condemned the continued economic blockade on Cuba by the U.S. Morales also gave his support to the people of Palestine who he said have been suffering a “political genocide” at the hands of Israel and the U.S.

On Wednesday, Morales hit out at U.S. drug policy in response to U.S. President Barack Obama's criticism of Bolivia and Venezuela’s drug policy in the annual global drug trafficking memorandum to the U.S. State Department.

Morales described the memorandum as “ridiculous” in a tweet from Wednesday, saying that the U.S. should "first suspend secret banking, eliminate tax havens, and stop producing weapons and invading countries."

"The U.S., as the largest consumer of drugs in the world, has no moral authority to dismiss the fight against drug trafficking of other people's," Morales tweeted.

"You have to be neo-colonialist, pro-capitalist and pro-imperialist to be recognized by the U.S. in the fight against drug trafficking," he continued.

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The U.S. has been one of the biggest critics of Bolivia's progressive drug policies, which is the only country exempt from a ban on growing coca for medical and traditional purposes.

In the memorandum Obama said that Bolivia had “failed demonstrably during the previous 12 months to adhere to their obligations under international counternarcotics agreements.”