Bolivia signs $20m deal with US to fight drug trafficking, foreign ministry says

Bolivia says it has signed a new co-operation deal with the US to combat drug trafficking.

The foreign ministry said that under the agreement, the US would provide up to $20m (£15m) to train and equip Bolivian forces as part of a joint fight against drug smuggling.

The deal is the latest sign of thawing relations between the nations - 18 years after then-President Evo Morales expelled the US Drug Enforcement Administration from the South American country, which is the world's third-largest producer of coca, the raw material used to make cocaine.

Under a new centrist president, Rodrigo Paz, Bolivia has joined the Shield of the Americas, the US-led security initiative in the Western Hemisphere.

AFP news agency said that the US embassy had confirmed that the "United States will work closely with the Bolivian government to provide training, equipment, and other forms of support". The BBC has contacted the embassy for comment.

Bolivia's foreign affairs ministry said the aim of the agreement was to strengthen Bolivian institutions tasked with public security, criminal investigations and the fight against organised crime.

It was signed in La Paz less than two weeks after the Bolivian president named the country's "drug czar" Ernesto Justiniano as the new defence minister.

In March, Paz joined another 12 regional leaders at the inaugural "Shield of the Americas" summit in Florida, hosted by US President Donald Trump.