Morales rejects U.S. drug efforts

President Evo Morales said Bolivia does not need U.S. help to control its coca crop, stepping up his anti-Washington rhetoric days after rejecting a U.S. request to fly an anti-drug plane over the South American nation’s territory.

Morales also compared U.S. counter-narcotics efforts in the country to espionage.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Eric Watnik said the Drug Enforcement Administration makes periodic requests to fly a plane transporting U.S. and Bolivian anti-narcotics personnel around the country. The aircraft is not used for surveillance, he said.