The main inspiration for the game is the US War on Drugs.
In 1971, Richard Nixon declared drug abuse in the United States a number one priority of the US government. Among the policies enacted as part of the WoD were domestic measures like criminalization of more kinds of drugs, drug prevention programs and more resources spent on fighting domestic drug distribution.
Later administrations then added another approach to the drug problem: attacking it at the source. The US started various military operations in South America with the goal to destroy the drug production industry and the infrastructure of the drug cartels. The intention was to reduce the amount of drugs available on the world market and thus the amount of drugs smuggled into the United States.
These military operations focused on:
Bolivia was not officially targeted by the US War on Drugs so far, even though it's one of the main cocain producers in the world. That's where the fiction of the game starts.