In Bolivia, power and coca producers are no longer on the same line

Text by: Alice Campaignolle

In Bolivia, the interim president, Jeanine Añez, says she wants to tackle drug trafficking, but the question is very complex in a country where the cultivation of coca is authorized for traditional consumption.

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From our correspondent in La Paz,

“ It is obvious that 90% of the coca in the Chaparé region is intended for drug trafficking. With these words, on February 28, during the launch of the new government drug plan, the interim president of Bolivia, Jeanine Añez , unleashed the anger of the cultivators of the sacred leaf - called cocaleros - in the Chaparé region, center of the country. They were quick to respond, through their representative, Leonardo Loza, who said: "It is easier to die than to let the authorities take our coke from us ". For the union leader, it is " a political attack ", and it is unthinkable to abandon what was obtained " by the struggle ".

The break between the head of state and the producers had already been consumed for several months now. Indeed, the department of Chaparé has always supported the ex-president Evo Morales , ousted from power on November 10. He was himself a coca producer, and it was there, in Chaparé, that he appeared on the political scene as a union leader, about 30 years ago, opposing neo-liberal governments. promoting the “zero coca” policy, with the support of the American Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The cocaleros of this zone are therefore his lifelong allies, and were the first to rise when the president fled the country in a hurry, chanting " We want Evo again ". More than a dozen protesters died in these rallies.

Guardians of the " real coca leaf "

Despite the former president's past as a farmer, not all the cocaleros in the country supported him because there are two authorized coca growing areas in Bolivia: Chaparé, in the center of the country, but also the Yungas, a Andino-tropical area north of La Paz. Since a government decision in 2017, 22,000 hectares of coca are authorized throughout the Bolivian territory, against only 12,000 previously. The decision created a small storm in international institutions. Indeed, a government study conducted from 2004 to 2010 and funded by the European Union, specified that only 12,000 hectares were necessary for traditional coca consumption. On March 8, 2017, however, Evo Morales offered a much larger increase in the number of hectares authorized to cocaleros in Chaparé than to those of the Yungas, who were given a few hundred more hectares to " pass the pill " say some experts.

In the Yungas, those who claim to be the sole guardians of the "real coca leaf" are angry. Franklin Gutierrez, union leader, said in 2018: " The coca du Chaparé is bitter, sour, it is absolutely not used for chewing. Only for illicit markets. While ours, the academics chew it, the drivers, the doctors, the masons, all… ”

Chaparé is actually known to be the epicenter of drug trafficking in Bolivia. Jean-Pierre Barbieri, former internal security attaché of the French Embassy in La Paz, explains in his book El Narco-Amauta, how the Morales era Bolivia (re) became a narco-state (published in March 2020) that 90% of production in Chaparé does not go through the legal market of the city of Sacaba. He thus joins the opinion of the new conservative president Jeanine Añez. The explanations of the government of the day never convinced him, he said: the farmers' lack of habit in the formality of an official market and the existence of " second zone " markets.

Break

But it seems that Jeanine Añez wants to send a strong message, to ensure that she really breaks with her predecessor, who has often been accused of leading a "narco-state." "Jean-Pierre Barbieri explains:" It's not that cocaine money comes directly to the state coffers. Rather, Evo Morales, by wanting to protect and support his lifelong companions, favored the cocaine trafficking, since they are the first link in the chain. And obviously, there must be senior people who took advantage of it a little from time to time. "

But beyond the illegal economy, with more than 70,000 affiliates in the two legal coca markets, added to all those who work in logistics, harvesting, transport, retail, many Bolivians are dependent on the “sacred leaf”, which represents around 10% of agricultural GDP. But for Thierry Rostan, director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in La Paz to add: " Whatever money is generated with coca, it does not bring development . In cultivated areas, there is still no paved road, people eat poor food because they produce nothing but coca, they still live in unsanitary houses. "

Will interim president Jeanine Añez really be able to deal with the conflicts that will arise if she decides to eradicate coca cola from Chaparé? Jean-François Barbieri speaks of " civil war " in the event of an uprising by cocaleros in this region. The presidential elections should take place on May 3, the problem of the illegal cultivation of coca will certainly be an issue to be tackled by the winner of the election.

► Read also: Bolivia: coca galore

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