Gillies, Allan Jack Joseph (2016) State-narco networks and the ‘War on drugs’ in post-transition Bolivia, with special reference to 1989-1993. PhD thesis. https://theses.gla.ac.uk/7742/ Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] State-Narco Networks and the ‘War on Drugs’ in Post-Transition Bolivia, with special reference to 1989-1993 Allan Jack Joseph Gillies Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Humanities College of Arts November 2016 University of Glasgow This work was supported by the University of Glasgow’s Lord Kelvin Adam Smith Scholarship scheme. i Table of Contents Declaration iii Abstract iv Acknowledgements vi List of Figures & Tables vii Abbreviations & Acronyms viii Chapter 1|Introduction 1 1.1 Case Selection 4 1.2 Advancing a Nuanced Understanding of State-Narco Networks 9 1.2.1 Alternative Paradigms of the ‘War on Drugs’ 10 1.2.2 The Coercion Literature 16 1.1.2 The ‘War on Drugs’, Violence and Instability 18 1.3 Studying Illicit Activity: a Mixed Methods Approach 22 1.3.1 Creating a ‘Base-line’ Account 23 1.3.2 Oral History Methodology 28 1.4 Entrenched State-Narco Networks, Competing Narratives of the ‘War on Drugs’ and US-Bolivian Contestation 33 1.5 Conclusion 35 Chapter 2|Contextualising State-Narco Relations 39 2.1 The Drug War Paradigm 40 2.1.1 US Domestic, Foreign Policy and Institutional- Bureaucratic Imperatives 44 2.2 The Development Paradigm 52 2.2.1 Local Bolivian Realities 55 2.3 Conceptualising Drug Corruption 58 2.3.1 The Drug War Paradigm and Corruption 58 2.3.2 The Development Paradigm and Corruption 61 2.3.3 Common Assumptions 63 2.4 The Establishment of State-Narco Networks 65 2.5 The Fragmented Bolivian State, Uneven Democracy and Bolivian State- Narco Networks 70 2.6 Conclusion 77 Chapter 3|Linking Theory, Methods and Empirical Analysis: US and Bolivian Fieldwork 80 3.1 US Fieldwork 81 3.1.1 Ethics Process 83 3.1.2 Don’t Mention the ‘War on Drugs’ 85 3.1.3 Interviewing Elites and Oral History 87 3.2 Bolivian Fieldwork 91 3.2.1 Gaining Access, Managing Resources and Defining the Field 91 3.2.2 Establishing Credibility and Approaching Sensitive Topics 94 3.2.3 The Researcher-Researched Relationship 97 3.3 Conclusion 101 Chapter 4|The Development of State-Narco Networks (1964-1989) 103 4.1 Patron-Client Relations and the Barrientos Regime (1964-1969) 104 4.1.1 The Nascent Coca-Cocaine Trade and Early State-Narco ii Networks 107 4.2 Banzerato State-Narco Networks (1971-1978) 110 4.2.1 From Cotton to Cocaine 112 4.2.2 A Note of Caution 116 4.3 The ‘Cocaine-Coup’: García Meza’s Regime (1980-1981) 117 4.3.1 Changing US Priorities 121 4.4 Post-Transition Atomised State-Narco Interactions (1982-1989) 122 4.4.1 The Siles Suazo Administration (1982-1985) 131 4.4.2 The Paz Estensorro Administration (1985-1989) 134 4.4.3 The Huanchaca Case 137 4.5 Conclusion 141 Chapter 5| Contrasting Perspectives of the ‘War on Drugs’ 143 5.1 Conceptualising ‘the Problem’ 144 5.1.1 The US Drug War Perspective 145 5.1.2 Bolivia as ‘Victim’ and ‘Perpetrator’ 149 5.1.3 Development Discourses and Bolivian Ambivalence 154 5.1.4 The ‘Democracy Generation’ 158 5.2 The Nature of US-Bolivian Relations 162 5.2.1 The ‘Three Ds’ 163 5.3.2 The Cold War Legacy 166 5.4 Conclusion 170 Chapter 6| Uneven Democracy and Uneven Power 171 6.1 Pacted Democracy: the Acuerdo Patriótico 172 6.2 The Political-Police Pact 175 6.3 Unreformed Civil-Military Relations 178 6.4 Uneven Power: Negotiating the Andean Initiative 182 6.4.1 ‘Coca por Desarrollo’ 185 6.5 Gelbard’s Embassy 190 6.6 The Repentance Decree 194 6.7 Entry and Withdrawal of the Army 200 6.5 Conclusion 205 Chapter 7|Corruption Accusations and the Bolivian Political Class 207 7.1 The US Embassy’s Strategic Approach 209 7.2 Fault Lines of Trust: the Rendition of Arce Gomez 213 7.3 Corruption Scandals and Political Leverage 219 7.3.1 The Cases of Rico Toro, Capobianco and Carvajal 221 7.3.2 The MIR and Chavarría 230 7.4 Conclusion 234 Chapter 8|Conclusion 236 8.1 Rationale for Study 237 8.2 Theoretical Contribution 240 8.3 Normative and Contemporary Relevance 247 Appendix A|Original Ethics Information Sheet 250 Appendix B|Amended Ethics Information Sheet 251 Appendix C|Interviewee Biographies 252 Appendix D|Map of Bolivia 256 Bibliography 257 iii Declaration I declare that, except where explicit reference is made to the contribution of others, that this dissertation is the result of my own work and has not been submitted for any other degree at the University of Glasgow, or any other institution. Signature: Print name: Allan Gillies iv Abstract|State-Narco Networks and the ‘War on Drugs’ in Post-Transition Bolivia, with special reference to1989-1993 This thesis examines the development of state-narco networks in post-transition Bolivia. Mainstream discourses of drugs tend to undertheorise such relationships, holding illicit economies, weak states and violence as synergistic phenomena. Such assumptions fail to capture the nuanced relations that emerge between the state and the drug trade in different contexts, their underlying logics and diverse effects. As an understudied case, Bolivia offers novel insights into these dynamics. Bolivian military authoritarian governments (1964-1982), for example, integrated drug rents into clientelistic systems of governance, helping to establish factional coalitions and reinforce regime authority. Following democratic transition in 1982 and the escalation of US counterdrug efforts, these stable modes of exchange between the state and the coca-cocaine economy fragmented. Bolivia, though, continued to experience lower levels of drug-related violence than its Andean neighbours, and sustained democratisation despite being a major drug producer. Focusing on the introduction of the Andean Initiative (1989-1993), I explore state-narco interactions during this period of flux: from authoritarianism to (formal) democracy, and from Cold War to Drug War. As such, the thesis transcends the conventional analyses of the drugs literature and orthodox readings of Latin American narco-violence, providing insights into the relationship between illicit economies and democratic transition, the regional role of the US, and the (unintended) consequences of drug policy interventions. I utilise a mixed methods approach to offer discrete perspectives on the object of study. Drawing on documentary and secondary sources, I argue that state- narco networks were interwoven with Bolivia’s post-transition political settlement. Uneven democratisation ensured pockets of informalism, as clientelistic and authoritarian practices continued. This included police and military autonomy, and tolerance of drug corruption within both institutions. v Non-enforcement of democratic norms of accountability and transparency was linked to the maintenance of fragile political equilibrium. Interviews with key US and Bolivian elite actors also revealed differing interpretations of state-narco interactions. These exposed competing agendas, and were folded into alternative paradigms and narratives of the ‘war on drugs’. The extension of US Drug War goals and the targeting of ‘corrupt’ local power structures, clashed with local ambivalence towards the drug trade, opposition to destabilising, ‘Colombianised’ policies and the claimed ‘democratising mission’ of the Bolivian government. In contrasting these US and Bolivian accounts, the thesis shows how real and perceived state-narco webs were understood and navigated by different actors in distinct ways. ‘Drug corruption’ held significance beyond simple economic transaction or institutional failure. Contestation around state- narco interactions was enmeshed in US-Bolivian relations of power and control. vi Acknowledgements Over the course of four years of research, countless hours in the office, trips back and forth across the Atlantic, and months of fieldwork in the Americas, I have inevitably indebted myself to a great many people. Their support has been invaluable to the completion of this thesis, and is well-worthy of recognition. My PhD supervisors, Alex Marshall, Mo Hume and Jacqueline Atkinson, have provided strong guidance throughout the project. Their engagement with my work, patience and willingness to challenge my assumptions have been important during all stages of the PhD. I would also like to thank them for their advice and pastoral support. They have often gone above and beyond the duties of a supervisor, not least coordinating the replacement of a stolen passport between Buenos Aires and Glasgow. I am deeply grateful for their hard work. I have been privileged to travel extensively in the completion of my fieldwork and language training. My thanks to everyone who made me feel welcome along the way, alleviating any feelings of homesickness. This includes: the communities of Sustainable Bolivia, and Spanish in Rosario; the Balderrama family in Cochabamba; Stephanie, Claudio and Juani in Rosario (¡Aupa Central y Celtic!); Maria del Carmen in Madrid; and Tessa Kahn and friends in Washington, DC. My thanks also to all of those who agreed to interviews. Participants were generous with their time, and helped me greatly with my research.