No, this isn't referring to the large forest fires our agricultural policies are going to produce; instead, it refers to a new move into tobacco by the Bolivian Army. Under the Bolivian Army's purview, new collectivized tobacco farms are being established in the tropical lowlands of Beni, with thousands of hectares to be brought under cultivation with new, mechanized production techniques. This will fall under the umbrella of Boltac, a state-owned enterprise officially under the jurisdiction of the Bolivian People's Army, which needs something to do now that they aren't fighting a war.

​

Boltac will, much like Al-bol, not compete on things like "quality". Instead, Boltac will cultivate the easy-to-grow Nicotiana Rustica. While it has fallen out of favor due to being a generally inferior product to modern strains of tobacco, what it does have is nicotine, and lots of it--two to five times the quantity. Naturally, this is something that we see as useful, given the nicotine is what produces the "practical effects" of smoking. Rustica is a natural jungle plant and happy in the Bolivian lowlands, and is indeed native to the country--many of the native Indians and rural peasants already imbibe it. It is fundamentally harsher, bolder, with a more proletarian flavor to it. And though the higher echelons of the army and party may yet sample finer grades of tobacco, still to be grown in Bolivia in small quantities, the vast majority of Bolivians, purchasing their pipe-weed from the Boltac tobacco monopoly, will have to make do with the Ruby line of cigarettes, or, if they're feeling a bit more fancy, the Perl cigars or Rust snuff [really based on the local Rapé].

​

All these products will be produced in large state factories in the rapidly developing city of Cochabamba, the locus of Bolivia's new agricultural and industrial projects, even more than Santa Cruz. Boltac jobs will provide those affiliated with the army with reliable, iron-porridge-bowl employment, from security guards to tobacconists, and ensure another reliable source of support for the PRBI, which of course will represent the labor union that all Boltac employees are members of.

​

The introduction of this tobacco monopoly will raise even more revenue for the Bolivian government, and it is hoped that the export of our new cigarettes--packed full with even more fillers than normal cigarettes, to contain a slightly stronger nicotine content with fewer leaves--will prove an additional source of foreign currency. Much as with our alcohol, nobody's going to be buying Bolivian cigarettes for their quality, but in terms of dollar-per-pack it'll be hard to do better. And ultimately, when you've got the shakes, any port in a storm, even one with a rough flavor and possible hallucinogenic effects. At least it doesn't have fentanyl added to it--not yet, anyway...