Bolivia doesn't need U.S. anti-drug aid, leader says

[Judi Lynn]

October 4, 2008 -- Updated 2044 GMT (0444 HKT)
Bolivia doesn't need U.S. anti-drug aid, leader says

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) -- President Evo Morales said Saturday that Bolivia does not need U.S. help to control its coca crop, stepping up his anti-Washington rhetoric days after rejecting an American request to fly an anti-drug plane over the South American nation's territory.

Morales also compared U.S. counter-drug efforts in the country, including Drug Enforcement Administration flights, to espionage.

"It's important that the international community knows that here, we don't need control of the United States on coca cultivation," the president told a gathering of coca farmers. "We can control ourselves internally. We don't need any spying from anybody."

U.S. Embassy spokesman Eric Watnik said the DEA makes periodic requests to fly a plane transporting U.S. and Bolivian anti-narcotics personnel across the country. The aircraft is not used for surveillance, he said.

More:
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/10/04/bolivia.us.drugs.ap/index.html