One of the best parts of studying here at the Maryknoll Institute is the conferences they host every Wednesday.
Conference topics include: The Church in Latin America (I missed this conference which focused primarily on the Jesuits), Mining in South America, Non-Violent Communication, Water in Latin America, The Dignity of Work, Hope & Disenchantment in South America, and Coca and the Drug Wars.
Last weeks' topic was 'Coca and the Drug Wars' to coincide with our trip to the Chapare Region. During our trip, we were able to visit both a coca farm (part of the shift in drug policy here in Bolivia that allows for a negotiated reduction of coca where one cato, 1/6 of a hectare, is allowed for each family in certain regions) and also UMOPAR, which is the Bolivian anti-narcotics eradication unit largely funded by the US.
Some interesting points from both the conference on coca and the trip:
-Coca is used for many purposes; including chewing, drinking in tea, for ancient Andean rituals, for other ceremonial rituals, for medicinal purposes including fighting off altitude sickness, providing needed energy, keeping awake, etc.
-Coca is similar in nature to caffeine.
-The Supply-Side Drug War, which has for 20+ years focused on eliminating coca growth and focused in practice targeted small farmers has been a failure in all the typical measurements: purity of the drug has remained high, availability has remained high, growth of coca has grown worldwide, and the price has been stable.
-Both Colombia and Peru grow far more coca than Bolivia.
-The Catholic Church first tried coca eradication.
-Colombia's Drug Czar said that drug control policies do more harm than the drugs themselves.
-The RAND Corporation has written that drug education and prevention programs are 23 times more effective than interdiction.
-The Leahy Amendment (1997) prohibits the funding of security forces in another country if that force has demonstrated human rights abuses. This law has not been effectively enforced.
-Current interdiction programs in Colombia include spraying Round-Up from planes.
-Even though the DEA was kicked out of Bolivia, the Narcotics Division of the US Consulate remains in Bolivia and has 3 times as many people working for the Narcotics Division than the DEA.
-Many things in Bolivia are run by unions....and coca production is the same. Most of the coca production from Bolivia comes out of the Six Federations: six unions that have agreed upon who grows coca, where coca is grown, how it is sold & transported so that the coca cannot be used for cocaine.
-Bolivians have one of the lowest rates of cocaine use in the world. Something like .04%.
-Most of the coca that is not used domestically is exported and used for cocaine in Argentina and Brazil.
-Many Bolivians feel that the US government has not been interested as much in the drug war as in the partnership between the US military and the Bolivian military which remains as strong as any US partnership in Bolivia.
-Law 1008 was an anti-drug piece of legislation written in the US for Bolivia which Bolivia, under strong pressure from the US, adopted before Evo came to power.
-Any laxity in US law regarding coca stems from the influence of Coca Cola, which still uses coca alkaloids in producing its Coke products.
-When Evo Morales was still at 12% or something in the early stages of the presidential elections, the US pronounced that if Evo was elected, all US funding for Bolivia would end. This made Evo jump sharply and immediately up in the polls. Evo, of course, won the most recent presidential election and is also the head of the Six Federations. Being head of both might be considered a conflict of interest but it was the only way to get a sharply reduced production of coca.
The Conference was given by the head of the Andean Information Network, Kathryn Lebedur.
*I am not endorsing the legalization of drugs, but a focus more on the demand-side of drug use and a limit to the heavy-handedness of the US in foreign policy.
Conference topics include: The Church in Latin America (I missed this conference which focused primarily on the Jesuits), Mining in South America, Non-Violent Communication, Water in Latin America, The Dignity of Work, Hope & Disenchantment in South America, and Coca and the Drug Wars.
Last weeks' topic was 'Coca and the Drug Wars' to coincide with our trip to the Chapare Region. During our trip, we were able to visit both a coca farm (part of the shift in drug policy here in Bolivia that allows for a negotiated reduction of coca where one cato, 1/6 of a hectare, is allowed for each family in certain regions) and also UMOPAR, which is the Bolivian anti-narcotics eradication unit largely funded by the US.
Some interesting points from both the conference on coca and the trip:
-Coca is used for many purposes; including chewing, drinking in tea, for ancient Andean rituals, for other ceremonial rituals, for medicinal purposes including fighting off altitude sickness, providing needed energy, keeping awake, etc.
-Coca is similar in nature to caffeine.
-The Supply-Side Drug War, which has for 20+ years focused on eliminating coca growth and focused in practice targeted small farmers has been a failure in all the typical measurements: purity of the drug has remained high, availability has remained high, growth of coca has grown worldwide, and the price has been stable.
-Both Colombia and Peru grow far more coca than Bolivia.
-The Catholic Church first tried coca eradication.
-Colombia's Drug Czar said that drug control policies do more harm than the drugs themselves.
-The RAND Corporation has written that drug education and prevention programs are 23 times more effective than interdiction.
-The Leahy Amendment (1997) prohibits the funding of security forces in another country if that force has demonstrated human rights abuses. This law has not been effectively enforced.
-Current interdiction programs in Colombia include spraying Round-Up from planes.
-Even though the DEA was kicked out of Bolivia, the Narcotics Division of the US Consulate remains in Bolivia and has 3 times as many people working for the Narcotics Division than the DEA.
-Many things in Bolivia are run by unions....and coca production is the same. Most of the coca production from Bolivia comes out of the Six Federations: six unions that have agreed upon who grows coca, where coca is grown, how it is sold & transported so that the coca cannot be used for cocaine.
-Bolivians have one of the lowest rates of cocaine use in the world. Something like .04%.
-Most of the coca that is not used domestically is exported and used for cocaine in Argentina and Brazil.
-Many Bolivians feel that the US government has not been interested as much in the drug war as in the partnership between the US military and the Bolivian military which remains as strong as any US partnership in Bolivia.
-Law 1008 was an anti-drug piece of legislation written in the US for Bolivia which Bolivia, under strong pressure from the US, adopted before Evo came to power.
-Any laxity in US law regarding coca stems from the influence of Coca Cola, which still uses coca alkaloids in producing its Coke products.
-When Evo Morales was still at 12% or something in the early stages of the presidential elections, the US pronounced that if Evo was elected, all US funding for Bolivia would end. This made Evo jump sharply and immediately up in the polls. Evo, of course, won the most recent presidential election and is also the head of the Six Federations. Being head of both might be considered a conflict of interest but it was the only way to get a sharply reduced production of coca.
The Conference was given by the head of the Andean Information Network, Kathryn Lebedur.
*I am not endorsing the legalization of drugs, but a focus more on the demand-side of drug use and a limit to the heavy-handedness of the US in foreign policy.
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