December 30, 2014 "ICH" - "telesur" -  The so-called War on Drugs pushed by Washington is just one of the many means that the United States uses to pressure and control governments in Latin America, according to Bolivian President Evo Morales.

“(U.S. government) uses its War on Drugs to pursue its own geo-political agenda and now they use it to accuse other governments and take them down,” Morales, one of the Latin American leaders who has most fiercely criticized U.S. policy in the region, told the Mexican newspaper La Jornada in an article published Monday.

“They even named me the ‘Andinean Bin Laden’ and accused us of being terrorists and drug traffickers and at the same United States is the top-nation that backs and benefits from drug trafficking,” the Bolivian president continued.

Morales, whose political career began as a coca leaf farmer, said that drug trafficking is one of the many ways that the U.S. government uses to impose its own agenda in the region.

“Drug trafficking seems like the big business of the capitalist system. (United States) is a very developed country, with a lot of technology and the one who consumes the most drugs. How is it that they cannot control drug trafficking?,” asked Morales. “I think the country that drives the drug trade is the U.S., it’s big business; the big, illegal business of the capitalist system.”

Since electing Morales as President in 2006, Bolivia has been in dispute with Washington the coca leaf production in the South American nation, which the country’s indigenous majority use for a range of non-narcotic purposes, including religious ceremonies. 

The coca plant is considered sacred in several Andean countries.

Morales also slammed U.S. policy in the region, including the recent announcement by the Obama administration to impose diplomatic sanctions against Venezuela.

Morales urged all Latin American leaders to unite against U.S. imperialism. “Unity is the only way to guarantee a future in Latin America,” the Bolivian leader concluded.