The masters of understatement at the BBC will let you read between the lines here.
One of King Raul’s best friends, Evo Morales, president of Bolivia, has just made all cocaine dealers and addicts very, very happy.
And his decision to increase the happiness of cocaine producers and consumers comes just after his recent visit to King Raul in Castrogonia.
What a coincidence!
Of course, Evo claims that increasing coca production has nothing to do with drug trafficking.
This is merely an attempt to return Bolivia to its indigenous roots. Yeah. Sure.
Of course, Castrogonia has nothing to do with this, or with drug trafficking, or any such unseemly business…
From the BBC:
Bolivia’s Morales boosts legal coca production
Bolivian President Evo Morales has signed into law a controversial bill that nearly doubles the area that can be legally planted with coca crops.
A total of 22,000 hectares (55,000 acres) can be planted with coca nationwide, compared with 12,000 hectares under previous legislation.
Mr Morales is himself a former coca farmer and dismissed warnings that the move would fuel the illegal drug trade.
The coca plant. used to make cocaine, also has traditional uses in the Andes.
Its leaves are used to make tea to fight altitude sickness. When chewed they provide mild stimulation and suppress hunger, thirst and pain.
Mr Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous president, has long supported the legalisation of coca leaf chewing globally, urging the UN to declare it legal. He still heads a federations of coca farmers’ unions in the Chapare region.
“We want to guarantee coca supplies for life” for people who use the leaves legally, the leftist leader said in a speech.
Opposition lawmakers said the law was unconstitutional as it violated international treaties. They argued it would be a boon to drug traffickers.
