Bolivia President Raps U.S. Drug Policy

Bolivian President Evo Morales chews coca leaves during a ceremony in his hometown Orinoca, some 297 km (185 miles) south of the Bolivian capital La Paz on Saturday, July 22, 2006. Morales is celebrating 6 months of his presidency by paying a visit to his hometown. (AP Photo/Dado Galdieri) (Dado Galdieri - AP)

LA PAZ, Bolivia -- President Evo Morales on Monday lashed out at the U.S policy of drug certification that evaluates the cooperation of foreign countries, calling it a form of "blackmail."

Morales spoke a day after Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera ended a trip to Washington to persuade the U.S. Congress to extend a preferential trade pact set to expire at the end of the year.

The pact, called the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act, has offered zero tariffs for several Bolivian products exported to the U.S since 2002. It was meant to reward Andean countries for their cooperation in the war against drugs.

Congress is unlikely to renew the act because the U.S. government favors individual free trade agreements with countries in the region, including Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia.

"This government doesn't share the politics of blackmail or threats, so-called certification or decertification that in the end are politics of colonization, submission or subordination," Morales said as he marked the 19th anniversary of Bolivia's Special Drug Fighting Force. "This must change."

Decertification would make Bolivia ineligible for drug aid from the U.S. _ last year Washington gave Bolivia roughly $100 million to fight the drug trade.

Relations between Bolivia and the U.S. have been frosty since Morales took office in January. While he has built close ties with Venezuela and Cuba, his remarks toward the U.S. have grown increasingly strident.

Colombia accounts for 54 percent of coca cultivation globally, followed by Peru at 30 percent and Bolivia at 16 percent, according to the U.N.'s 2006 World Drug Report.