Bolivian President Evo Morales said on Sunday he had found common ground with the United States in less than a month as president -- even on the sensitive issue of drugs policy according to Reuters. Morales, a coca farmer who described his movement as a "nightmare for the U.S." while campaigning, was speaking a day after meeting Washington's ambassador to Bolivia -- the world's third-biggest cocaine producer after Colombia and Peru. "With the ambassador of the United States we have several points of view in common such as the defense of democracy and the battle against corruption... We at least agree on 'zero cocaine'," said Morales, a leftist who has pledged to fight the drugs trade while promoting legal uses of coca leaves. The United States funds coca eradication programs in Bolivia's tropical Chapare region, where it says most coca, the raw material for cocaine, ends up with drug smugglers. Poor farmers say coca is mostly used for traditional purposes, from hunger suppressants to protection against altitude sickness. Morales admitted that the eradication of excess coca plants was still a potential point of conflict with the United States for as long as it maintains a policy of 'zero coca'. Following Saturday afternoon's meeting with Morales, U.S. ambassador David Greenlee told local television he was concerned about the pace of eradication in the Chapare. --more 23 17 Local Time 20 17 GMT
