U.S., Bolivia: The Pieces Are in Place for Improved Relations

Relations between the United States and Bolivia, strained though they have been since 2008, may soon improve. That year, left-wing President Evo Morales, leveraging the anti-American sentiment that pervaded his country, nationalized several key industries, kicked out the Drug Enforcement Administration — which had been operating in the country for decades — and declared Washington's ambassador persona non grata. The politics of the time, to some degree, dictated his actions.

But Bolivian politics have changed since 2008, and so, too, has the government's attitude toward the United States. In fact, La Paz recently expressed an interest in information sharing with the DEA to combat the country's drug traffickers. Such cooperation could well be the impetus both countries need to improve bilateral relations on a much wider scale — improvements that would benefit Bolivia economically moving forward.