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US diplomats are walking softly when it comes to relations with Bolivian president-in-waiting Evo Morales. Elected with the most overwhelming popular mandate in recent Bolivian history, the coca grower leader campaigned in part on a platform of decriminalizing the production of the leaf -- a pledge that puts him directly at odds with US policy in the country. But while US diplomacy toward Bolivia has traditionally been carried out as if the US owned the place, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas Shannon was singing a different tune Tuesday.

Instead of bluster, Shannon said he sought dialogue on coca and other contentious issues. "We want to have the opportunity to enter a dialogue with the president-elect and his government to better understand how we can move ahead with this relationship," Shannon told reporters in Brazil while on a visit to the continent. Bolivia and the US had long cooperated on coca, he said. "We are going to have to talk with the new government to understand how we can move ahead with this process," said Shannon.

coca seedlings

The conciliatory talk comes amid fears in Washington that Morales could form a left-leaning alliance with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez -- who has warned of US efforts to undermine or overthrow Morales -- and Cuban leader Fidel Castro, as well as concern that liberalizing the coca crop could result in more leaf being diverted into the black market. Washington's jitters are doubtless not helped by Morales' peripatetic travel schedule since his election. The casually-clad indigenous leader has visited Europe, South Africa, and perhaps most troubling to the US, China, where he discussed strengthening trade relations with the Asian economic giant. He will also visit Argentina and Brazil before returning to Bolivia for his January 22 inauguration.

While Morales has vowed to decriminalize coca production, particulars have yet to emerge. He is expected to change portions of the US-drafted, much-criticized Law 1008, the country's coca law to allow for greater cultivation and to change its provisions not granting the presumption of innocence to persons accused of drug crimes. He has also vowed to attempt to amend the 1961 United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs to remove the coca plant from its list of prohibited substances.

Bolivia's ability to act independently of US wishes will depend to a large degree on the success of the trade and aid talks Morales has been undertaking on his recent travels. The US provides $150 million a year in aid to Bolivia, one-third of which is for drug enforcement. If Morales can find replacements for the US assistance, it will be that much easier for him to act.

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