WARSAW EMPATHIZES WITH U.S. ON DEA EXPULSION BUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 001301 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/13/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM SNAR BL PL SUBJECT: WARSAW EMPATHIZES WITH U.S. ON DEA EXPULSION BUT INFLUENCE LIMITED REF: STATE 118934 Classified By: Political Counselor F. Daniel Sainz for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Warsaw agrees that the suspension of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) operations in Bolivia could have a serious impact on the level of narcotics, particularly cocaine, entering the European market. The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) was aware of the DEA suspension and feared that the loss of U.S. counternarcotics assistance and expertise will result in increased illicit drug production, especially in areas of the country not fully under the control of central government authorities in La Paz. Ewa Kinast, MFA Deputy Director of the Americas Department, described President Evo Morales' justification for the eviction order as "politically driven," stressing that the situation in Bolivia was complicated. Upcoming elections increased the possibility that further attacks against U.S. and other foreign interests would occur there. ¶2. (C) Although Kinast generally shared our analysis of the situation, she said there was little that Poland could do to overturn Morales' decision. Warsaw did not have an embassy in La Paz, and bilateral economic relations were virtually non-existent. Poland's ambassador in Lima covered both Bolivia and Ecuador in addition to Peru. The ambassador occasionally met with Morales, usually as part of an EU group, but Kinast acknowledged that Warsaw did not have any leverage in Bolivia. Nonetheless, Poland would look for opportunities to exert its limited influence, most likely through the EU, to remind Morales of his obligation to control narcotics production and trafficking. SCHILLING