Since 1980, the United
States government directed its war on drugs against the lowlands of Cachabamba,
Bolivia, a place known as El Chapare. The coca leaf farmers of El Chapare
formed a union to stop coca eradication. Their leader, at the time, was Aymara Indian
Evo Morales.
Juan Evo Morales Ayma,
better known as Evo, began his political career as a cocalero trade union
organizer before becoming President of Bolivia in January 22, 2006. Evo
campaigned against the U.S. and Bolivian government’s attempts to eradicate
coca as part of the War on drugs, and since being elected his administration
has focused on the implementation of leftist policies, poverty reduction, and
combating the influence of the U.S. and transnational corporations in Bolivia.
Evo Morales grew up
growing coca in El Chapare. Today, there are more than 70,000 families in
Bolivia whose lives depend exclusively on the ancestral farming of the coca
leaf. But what is coca? In the news the word coca is used incorrectly when
referring to cocaine causing there to be many myths around coca. As described
by researcher and journalist Tom Blickman in his article, Coca Leaf: Myths and Reality, “Coca is a plant with a complex array
of mineral nutrients, essential oils, and varied compounds with greater or
lesser pharmacological effects- one of which happens to be the alkaloid cocaine,
which in its concentrated, synthesized form is a stimulant with possible
addictive properties.” Indigenous people in the Andes region have produced,
chewed, and brewed coca for thousands of years. In fact, archaeological evidence
for the chewing of coca leaves dates back to the 6th century AD
Moche period, and the Inca period afterwards.
Coca causes no harm and
is actually beneficial to human health. When coca is chewed it acts as a
stimulant and suppresses hunger, thirst, pain, and fatigue. Coca also helps
overcome altitude sickness and it’s also used as an anesthetic and analgesic to
alleviate the pain of headache, rheumatism, wounds, and sores. Because coca
constricts blood vessels, it also serves to oppose nose bleeding. Indigenous
use of coca has also been reported as a treatment for malaria, ulcers, and
asthma among other things.
It is abundantly clear
that there is a difference between the coca leaf in its natural harmless form to
cocaine, the addictive drug that has killed many. However, it is also true that
without the coca leaf there would be no cocaine. In 1961 the UN Single
Convention on Narcotic Drugs banned the coca leaf along with cocaine. This
measure hurt indigenous farmers tremendously because growing coca leaves is a
lifestyle in countries like Peru, Colombia and Bolivia. Coca farmers use what
they produce and exchange it with other people for beans, wheat, barley, etc.
If coca farmers don’t cultivate coca they have nothing to use in trade.
So far aggressive strategies
have been used to eradicate coca cultivation, but this has only led to clashes
between coca producers and the military. These clashes have resulted in deaths
and human rights violations. Most of these aggressive approaches have been
instigated by the U.S. government and its key to understand that controlling the
demand here in America is more important than controlling supply abroad. In
2009 President Evo Morales requested the suspension of the prohibition that
made chewing coca illegal. Chewing coca is a cultural and harmless practice
that has medicinal purposes, but most importantly is part of a country’s
tradition.
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