Weekly Report - 16 March 2004

At least publicly, the US appears to be coming to terms with Bolivia's shift from a `zero coca' policy to one of `virtual zero'. That was what emerged from last week's visit to Bolivia by Robert Charles, Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics Affairs and Law Enforcement. In a marked change from the browbeating approach Bolivians have become used to, Charles said that surplus coca production and drug trafficking are `Bolivian problems that call for Bolivian solutions.'