Bolivia Has New Type of Dictatorship: The Narcodictatorship

To end the new year we have the spectacle of another dictator in South America. This time it' s Bolivia run by the soon to be dictator Evo Morales. He rose to power promising to protect the coca business. His base are the people who grow cocaine and he uses terror to consolidate his power...surprise, surprise. I think we will see more of this in South and Central America because power lusters there view Obama as weak and ineffective in the world of global politics. Mary Anastasia O'Grady as always has a good article describing the depressing history of Morales' rise to power and how he is using thug tactics (what else?) to gain total control of the political structure. By the way he's very buddy buddy with who else? The thug from Iran.

A dictatorship that fosters the production and distribution of cocaine is not apt to enjoy a positive international image. But when that same government cloaks itself in the language of social justice, with a special emphasis on the enfranchisement of indigenous people, it wins world-wide acclaim.

This is Bolivia, which in two weeks will hold elections for president and both houses of congress. The government of President Evo Morales will spin the event as a great moment in South American democracy. In fact, it will mark the official end of what's left of Bolivian liberty after four years of Morales rule.

While the U.S. and the Organization of American States have been obsessing over Honduras's legal removal of an undemocratic president, Mr. Morales has been fortifying his narco-dictatorship. He's also made friends with Iranian dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who will make another visit to La Paz tomorrow. Read the rest at WSJ.