The Coca Conflict

It was neat to spend time in the Chapare region, the very area I studied just over a year ago when I was starting my MSW. My reading, writing, and presenting about the situation facing Bolivian coca growers and the injustice and misdirection of the US War on Drugs at U of M is what keyed me in to Bolivia in the first place. The FSD mid-term trip allowed me the chance to learn about the reality of coca production and its´ impacts and implications in this moment in time from coca growers and agronimists themselves living in this reality every day.

Just to make sure we´re all on the same page, coca (the leaf of the plant pictured above) is one of the ingredients used to make cocaine and also a very important indigenous herb used for everything from textiles to teas in the Andean region. It´s an ancient crop that has proven to help with arthritis, altitude sickness, hunger, and stomach ailments for centuries. Whereas the US has invested millions of dollars over the past 1o years in trying to reduce coca leaf production through forced eradication and alternative development programs, coca continues to be produced at the same levels because the demand (for cocaine) is stronger than ever.

Whereas coca used to be very much a licit product for domestic use within Bolivia, cocaine production and even consumption is now a growing problem as the leaf has been criminalized and the demand for the drug has risen. Coca still pays a grower more than $8,000 per hectare than the next most lucrative crop. I can hardly blame a grower who is desperate to feed his or her family and provide them with opportunities such as education from planting to most lucrative crop he or she can. Plus it´s easy as heck to grow and harvest! Afterall, tons of farmers in the US are planting fields and fields of corn because it pays to do so as well! So, why does our government, then, continue to pour money into forced eradication rather than refocus the efforts towards those that are actually manufacturing the drug and those who are consuming the drug???? If you kill the demand, you don`t have to keep killing the livelihoods of campesinos. Not only is the current strategy not working, but it´s causing a lot of harm in terms of livelihoods and civil unrest here in Bolivia. As the President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, a former cocalero himself has been quoted, "Yes to Coca, No to Cocaine". It´s a fine line that I hope this country can successfully tread in order to maintain it´s culture and economy while also not supporting the international drug trade. The last thing the poorest country in S. America needs to continue to be a part of is the illicit drug market...

Would love to hear of any thoughts, questions, or feedback you have on this.