Uh oh, coca production in Bolivia "has exploded". Apparently, coca acreage has risien in Peru and Bolivia because of aggressive anti-drug efforts in Colombia. So, basically the US war on drugs, specifically the coca eradication tactic, has managed to move coca production. Hurray, must be time to ask Congress for more money to fight the war on drug. We need to produce more anti-drug commercials for kids not to watch.
Peru and Bolivia were top cocaine producers in the 1980s. But after
officials cracked down on coca farmers, most of the production moved to
Colombia in the 1990s. Since 2000, Washington has spent more than $4
billion to help Colombia combat cocaine and heroin production, although
many critics have predicted that traffickers would simply move to other
places in what is known as the "balloon effect.”
Also noteworth, two-thirds of the increase in coca cultivation in Peru was dur to changes in how the US gathers data on coca acreage. Hmm, I wonder if someone is manipulating the numbers for exageration? The changes may be outlined here.
In Peru, coca cultivation in 2005 soared 38 percent to 94,000 acres.
But Arias said two-thirds of the increase was attributable to a change
in the way the U.S. government gathers data on coca acreage.