Bolivia says no to cocaine, but yes to coca
鈥� A version of this post ran on the author's blog, jbriski.wordpress.com. The views expressed are the author's own.
In many parts of the Andes, tourists can purchase t-shirts, shot glasses, coffee mugs, and all manner of other merchandise with the proud slogan 鈥渓a hoja de coca no es droga,鈥� a simple yet profound statement that means 鈥渢he coca leaf is not a drug.鈥�
The slogan itself is an indication of a deep tension between those who would use coca leaves for traditional religious and medicinal purposes, and those who would use coca to profit from its narcotic derivative, cocaine.
Nowhere is this coca-cocaine tension more prevalent than in Bolivia. For many Bolivians, it鈥檚 a matter of national identity.
Richard Craig provided some background on this in听 published in听Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs,听Vol. 29, No. 2 back in 1987:
In one way or another most Bolivians are involved in a cocacultura. They grow the leaf, ceremonialize it, chew it, drink it, cook it, stomp it, refine it, smoke it, sell it, and seek to eradicate it. Predating the Inca period, coca鈥檚 impact on Bolivian culture is such as to render it a virtual national resource.
Domestic policy under President Evo Morales 鈥� the听Coca S铆, Coca铆na No program 鈥� is an attempt at striking a balance between supporting traditional uses of coca leaves while cracking down on illicit production and trafficking of cocaine.
In addition to this domestic policy, some refer to the foreign policy strategy of the Morales Administration as
Since his election in 2006, Morales has advocated global decriminalization of traditional uses for the coca leaf 鈥� but not decriminalization of cocaine 鈥� through amending the to remove all references to the coca leaf.
He raised some eyebrows at his first UN General Assembly in September 2006 by holding up a coca leaf as he made the following :
I should like to take this opportunity to speak of another historical injustice: the criminalization of the coca leaf. This coca leaf is green, not white, like cocaine. 鈥μ鼵onditionality-based policies implemented in the past focused on zero coca-leaf production. But zero coca-leaf production is equivalent to zero Quechuas, zero Aymar谩s, zero Moje帽os, zero Chiquitanos. All of that ended with another Government. We are an underdeveloped country with economic problems resulting from the pillage of our natural resources. We are here today to begin to regain our dignity and the dignity of our country.
It turned out that the new head of state had technically smuggled the听coca leaves past US Customs officials by hiding them in the book he carried with him onto the plane in order to bring them to UN Headquarters in New York.
In 2008, Morales took a stronger stand for the national dignity of the Bolivian people by . After suspending DEA operations indefinitely in Bolivia, Morales explained that听鈥漌e have the obligation to defend the dignity and sovereignty of the Bolivian people.鈥�
Coca in the Constitution
The Bolivian Constitution was amended in several ways in 2009. Among other things, Bolivia is now officially defined as a听听unitary听plurinational state, or a country comprised of many different people groups, but with one sovereign central government.
But the also provides the following provision on coca in Part Four, Title II, Chapter Seven, Section II,听Article 384 (in Spanish):
The State shall protect native and ancestral coca as cultural patrimony, a renewable natural resource of Bolivia鈥檚 biodiversity, and as a factor of social cohesion; in its natural state it is not a narcotic. Its revaluing, production, commercialization, and industrialization shall be regulated by law.
This particular amendment has served to formalize the tension between international convention and constitutional law in Bolivia.
More recently, Morales made a strong statement by in June 2011, effective Jan. 1, 2012, since diplomatic efforts had failed to lead to the Convention鈥檚 amendment.
The Morales Administration was careful to specify that the objection was only with the classification of the coca leaf, and that the Bolivian government听would ensure continued compliance with the rest of the terms of the 1961 Single Convention and the Protocol Amending the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1972.
Comparative Advantage
The coca-cocaine tension is further complicated by an economic theory known as听.
This principle states that when it comes to trade relations, states should specialize in trading the goods that they can produce with the greatest relative efficiency at the lowest relative cost when compared to other states鈥揼iving them a comparative advantage in that particular good.
In other words, it鈥檚 more cost effective for everyone to export what they can produce more efficiently than anyone else while importing what they can鈥檛.
Unfortunately for the Bolivian-law-abiding coca growers, the Andean Region has a clear comparative advantage in coca production. A recent report on cocaine in Stratfor鈥檚 explains it this way:
Coca can be grown in a number of geographic locales, including Mexico, but only the South American geography is ideally suited to naturally cultivate the plant in large enough quantities for mass production.... According to the 2011 UN World Drug Report, three countries 鈥� Colombia, Peru and Bolivia 鈥� harvested all known coca in the world.
Under previous presidential administrations, the official policy was to promote . While this is still part of the听Coca S铆, Coca铆na听No program, alternative development is more voluntary now.
It鈥檚 a great idea to train and equip farmers to grow coffee and chocolate instead of coca 鈥� an initiative that has found great success in some regions 鈥� but coca is still easier to cultivate than chocolate and less fickle than coffee.
The Legalization Debate
Given the historical context, it comes as little surprise that the Morales Administration was quick to clarify a statement by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos.
Following the recent bilateral meetings between the two presidents, El Pa铆s 听(in Spanish) that Santos explained a plan for a Colombian-Bolivian tag team during the upcoming Summit on the Americas:
Bolivia 鈥� with its knowledge and experience in the traditional use of the coca leaf and the processes of alternative development 鈥� and Colombia 鈥� with our experience in combating drug cartels 鈥� have a lot to contribute to this discussion, which should be open and without prejudice.
He went on to use the phrase 鈥渨e鈥� several times as he explained plans to propose a 鈥渃omprehensive and wide鈥� discussion about the results of 鈥渢he so-called 鈥榃ar on Drugs鈥欌�� and the 鈥渄iverse strategies that we can take on together to end this scourge.鈥�
According to the El听Pa铆s article, Morales was standing next to Santos when he made these remarks.
However, the next day, Los Tiempos (in Spanish) that the Bolivian government rejects the debate on regional drug legalization.
Bolivian Government Minister Carlos Romero, who accompanied Morales on the trip to Colombia, explained that they had discussed many topics, one of which had been the fight against narcotrafficking. However, drug legalization 鈥渋s not the appropriate way.鈥� The Minister went on to say:
We have said many times that if there is no joint work between all of the countries we cannot face up to this scourge, so our proposal is to work together. Migration control, databases, international police operatives, in technology.
Several countries in Latin America came under听sharp criticism听from the UN in 2010 for the听听that swept through some countries in 2009.听The report stated that听Latin America was undermining the .
This was before Santos began the process of 听in Colombia (a 180掳 turn from of his predecessor,听脕lvaro Uribe)听and Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina 鈥� whose presidential campaign was based on the promise of crushing crime 鈥渨ith an iron fist鈥� 鈥� initiated the drug legalization discussion听.听.
President Morales is in a tight spot, facing pressure at home and abroad. As former head of the Bolivian national coca growers union, he has to show his electoral base that he will uphold the 2009 Constitution.
At the same time, he has to prove to the international community 鈥� especially the international drug control system 鈥� that he鈥檚 serious about upholding the rest of the Single Convention, even though Bolivia has officially withdrawn from it.
鈥� Jackie Briski is a Latin Americanist and author of the blog.
