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Town plaza with statues honoring the coca leaf in the VRAE (photo by the author)
Town plaza with statues honoring the coca leaf in the VRAE (photo by the author)

Peru Halts Coca Eradication -- For Now

The new nationalist government of Peruvian President Ollanta Humala has announced the temporary suspension of coca eradication as it evaluates its options.
Cultivating coca in the Chapare. (photo by the author)
Cultivating coca in the Chapare. (photo by the author)

Bolivia to Buy Up Excess Coca Production

The Bolivian government is laying plans to buy some legally produced coca -- up to a certain point -- if there is not sufficient licit use for it.
lime powder container (used traditionally in coca chewing), 1st-7th-century, Colombia (Quimbaya), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
lime powder container (used traditionally in coca chewing), 1st-7th-century, Colombia (Quimbaya), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY

Going Through the Motions

[image:1 align:left caption:true]Bolivia's government has announced it plans to allow "excess

lime powder container (used traditionally in coca chewing), 1st-7th-century, Colombia (Quimbaya), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
lime powder container (used traditionally in coca chewing), 1st-7th-century, Colombia (Quimbaya), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY

Bolivia to Quit United Nations Drug Convention Over Coca

We may be about to see the first defection from the legal backbone of global drug prohibition, the 1961 UN Convention on Single Drugs. Bolivia is ready to dump it, at least temporarily, over its classification of coca as an illicit drug.
coca-chew-in-3_0.jpg
coca-chew-in-3_0.jpg

Bolivians Hold Coca "Chew-Ins" Opposing UN Ban

As the US, UK, and Sweden file formal objections to Bolivian efforts to amend the UN 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs to end the proscription on coca leaf chewing, Bolivians take to the streets.

International Day of Action in Defense of Coca Chewing Underway

Coca growers from the Chapare (Cochabamba) and the Yungas (La Paz) — Bolivia’s two coca-growing regions — have travelled to Bolivia’s nine departmental capitals today to publicly chew the traditional leaf and to support the Bolivian government campaign to end the UN prohibition on coca chewing.

Bolivia Presents Coca Leaf Soda. The U.S. Objects

The United States is urging all countries to file formal objections to Bolivia’s announcement that it had developed a coca leaf soft drink. Bolivia, like neighboring Peru, permits limited cultivation of coca for legal use in cooking, folk medicine and Andean religious rites. Unadulterated coca is a mild stimulant that counteracts the effects of altitude sickness and suppresses hunger pangs.

Bolivian coca leaf chewer (image courtesy of the author)
Bolivian coca leaf chewer (image courtesy of the author)

US Says No to Lifting UN Coca Leaf Ban

Bolivia wants to undo a treaty clause that has outlawed the traditional practice of coca chewing for the last 50 years, but the US and others stand ready to block that effort.

Peru Wants More US Aid for Drug War; New Ambassador Hints 'No'

Peruvian President Alan García met with President Obama over the summer and directly accused Washington of pushing cocaine growth into Peru. The world's second-largest cocaine producer, Peru has asked for more US aid in combating drug trafficking and blamed Washington's policies for driving coca plant production in the country. Despite Peru's leaders repeatedly calling in recent months for more US aid in fighting drug trafficking, the new US ambassador said in her first media interview that resources are limited.
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