In a significant foreign policy shift, Bolivia has once again opened its doors to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
The move, confirmed on Monday, will end a nearly two-decade hiatus in bilateral efforts to curb drug trafficking.
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Bolivian government minister Marco Oviedo told local media this week that DEA agents were already working in the country.
“The DEA is in Bolivia,” he said. “We have cooperation from European intelligence and law enforcement agencies, just as we have the DEA now.”
Mr. Oviedo explained that the initial focus of law enforcement operations was to strengthen border surveillance and dismantle human trafficking networks.
He added that cooperation with the DEA and European institutions is just the beginning of Bolivia’s growing international efforts.
“We would like drug enforcement authorities from neighboring countries to also participate,” Oviedo said.
Termination of Morales Order
The announcement marks the end of a 2008 order issued under former leftist President Evo Morales that effectively deported all DEA employees.
Morales, then leader of the Bolivian Movement for Socialism (MAS), accused the United States of using the drug crackdown to pressure Latin American countries into complying with its political and economic policies.
Under Morales, all drug enforcement cooperation with the United States was suspended and DEA agents were denied entry because they were destabilizing the government. Diplomatic relations were similarly suspended.
Meanwhile, MAS received strong support from rural Bolivia, where the cultivation of coca, the raw material for cocaine, is a major economic driver.
Bolivia, along with other Andean countries such as Colombia and Peru, is a major producer of coca, which has traditional uses such as a treatment for altitude sickness. Mr. Morales himself led a coca growers’ union, or cocalero, before taking office.
Supporters accuse the United States’ militaristic “war on drugs” of harming poor rural farmers through the forced eradication of coca crops. They argue that such campaigns can leave farmers without the means to feed themselves and their families.
MAS was in power from Morales’s start in 2006 until 2025, when the coalition collapsed due to economic instability and civil war.
new political direction
In October 2025, two right-wing candidates advanced to the presidential runoff: centrist Rodrigo Paz of the Christian Democratic Party and former right-wing president Jorge Quiroga.
This was Bolivia’s first presidential run-off in modern times, and marked a drastic change from 20 years of socialist government.
Both candidates made improving relations with the United States a central pillar of their campaigns, seeing it as essential to resolving Bolivia’s severe economic crisis.
Mr. Pass, who was educated in Washington, D.C., argued that normalization would attract the international investment needed to modernize the energy and lithium sectors.
Quiroga, a conservative who studied at Texas A&M University, campaigned on a more aggressive platform, including fiscal austerity and security cooperation with the United States.
Vice presidential candidate Juan Pablo Velasco is credited with popularizing the catchphrase “Make Bolivia sexy Again,” a play on US President Donald Trump’s slogan “Make America Great Again.”
In the end, Paz won the race with about 54.9 percent of the vote. After taking office in November, Mr. Pass moved quickly to fulfill his promise by restoring diplomatic relations with the United States.
Meanwhile, the United States called Paz’s appointment as a “transformative opportunity” for the region.
Earlier this month, Bolivia and the United States agreed to appoint ambassadors to each other’s countries for the first time in nearly 18 years.
uncertainty remains
However, it is unclear how active the DEA will be in Bolivia. Left-wing leaders like Mr. Morales continue to enjoy strong support, especially in the highlands and rural areas.
Bolivia’s Foreign Minister Fernando Aramayo said negotiations are still underway to finalize specific areas of cooperation between Bolivia and the DEA and limits on the work of U.S. authorities.
A full agreement outlining the scope of the agency’s activities is expected to be signed in the coming months.
Since returning to office on January 20, 2025, President Trump has stepped up the US campaign against drug trafficking in Latin America, including designating several major cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations.”
President Trump has also used economic sanctions and military threats to pressure Latin American governments to take more aggressive action against illegal drug trafficking.
Already in late December and early January, President Trump authorized two attacks on Venezuela in the name of combating drug trafficking.
The first, on Dec. 29, targeted a port that the Trump administration said was being used for drug smuggling. The second time occurred on January 3, when multiple explosions killed dozens of people and abducted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. He remains in U.S. custody, facing charges of drug trafficking and weapons possession.
Critics say President Trump’s war on drugs is blurring the line between law enforcement and military operations.
The increasing use of force against criminal suspects has raised concerns that human rights are being violated and legal processes are being circumvented, including through extrajudicial killings.
One example of this occurred as part of a military operation called Operation Southern Spear.
On September 2, the United States announced the first of approximately 44 “lethal kinetic attacks” against suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific Ocean.
As many as 150 people were killed in the attack. Operation Southern Spear continues despite international organizations such as the United Nations questioning its legality and calling for its halt.
