Before the UN, Bolivia pleads to free the marketing of coca leaves
Audio 01:17
Bolivian Vice President David Choquehuanca (left) and President Luis Arce (centre) chew coca leaves during the celebration of the 'acullico' tradition, a day part of an international campaign for the use tradition of the coca leaf, in La Paz, January 11, 2023. © Claudia Morales / Reuters
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
The United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs launched its 66th session on Monday (March 13) in Vienna.
A member of what is the main decision-making body on drugs, Bolivia has defended the marketing of the coca leaf in front of the 52 other member states.
For the Bolivian vice-president David Choquehuanca, the “
traditional consumption of coca
” should not suffer from the fight against cocaine, which is the result of it.
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David Choquehuanca made a real plea in favor of the coca leaf on Monday, reports our correspondent in La Paz,
Alice Campaignolle
.
During his public address in Vienna, he made a direct link between his classification as a narcotic and Western domination:
“
For six decades, agents of the dominant geopolitics of the West have sought to prevent the cultivation, ritual use and traditional consumption of coca, for crimes it has never committed.
»
NOTE |
Vicepresidente asked el derecho de Bolivia a industrializar y commercializar la “hoja de coca natural” ante la Comisión de Estupefacientes de Naciones Unidas
Leer nota completa ▶️ https://t.co/ftiDFRodRI pic.twitter.com/o2o1KKjYIK
— Vicepresidency of Bolivia (@VPEP_Bol) March 13, 2023
Traditional consumption in Bolivia
Because in
Bolivia the coca is consumed everywhere, especially chewed
, in particular by the workers of the mines to endure tiredness or by the mountaineers for example, because it helps to support the altitude.
But the fact that it is the source of cocaine prevents Bolivia from selling its products abroad: coca is considered a drug.
David Choquehuanca therefore seeks to defend it: “
We invite member countries to set up a critical examination of the classification of coca as a narcotic.
»
Each year in Bolivia, around ten tonnes of cocaine is seized by the authorities out of around 2,000 tonnes produced worldwide, the vast majority of which are consumed in North America and Europe.
Colombia, the other producer of the leaf with Peru, had already announced in February that it
would join Bolivia's request
for the withdrawal of the coca leaf from the list of illicit substances of the UN.
► To read also: In Bolivia, power and coca producers are no longer on the same line
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