Both Open Veins (“Colonialism at the UN”) & The Gringo Tambo (“UN international narcotics board calls on Bolivia to outlaw coca leaf”) have already commented on the recent UN report on coca. GT quotes some of the language in the UN document; Open Veins gives historical background on the matter.
Either way, the UN report seems quite odd. It’s also more aggressive than the US government’s policy towards coca, which has always accepted that Bolivia should retain some quantity of coca production (the numbers are frequently disputed, but often in the range of 4,000 to 6,000 hectares) for “traditional” purposes. In other words, even the US government—despite its promotion of a heavy-handed policy of forced eradication—recognizes that “coca” is not the same as “cocaine.”
So, frankly, I’m confused at the UN report. What happened?
