By Gabriel Romano
La Paz, (EFE).- The coca leaf is part of Bolivia’s identity and its use is widespread in culture, traditions and health. The authorities have been seeking for years that this plant, considered sacred by the peoples of the Andes, be removed from the list of narcotic drugs so that the country can promote its industrialization.
The consumption of the coca leaf, prior to the Inca empire, is part of the habits of the Bolivian population such as infusions, “acullico” or “pijcheo”, which means chewing, the coca flour that is dissolved in drinks that are used to calm the cold, hunger, tiredness or the so-called altitude sickness or its use as compresses in cases of blows or injuries.
Bolivian law recognizes only two markets for the legal sale of coca leaf in the country, one in the city of La Paz and the other in Sacaba, in the department of Cochabamba; furthermore, in 2013 a regulation was issued on the application of traditional ancestral medicine.
identity symbol
Sdenka Silva, a sociologist who founded the Coca Museum in a tourist area in La Paz more than 25 years ago, told EFE that there is a lot of “misinformation” because the world “does not know about the importance of the coca (leaf) ” as a “cultural axis” in the towns of the Andes.
Silva indicated that “an overwhelming majority of visitors” come to the museum with the “prejudice” that the coca leaf is cocaine and is reluctant to try any food or product made from this plant, considered sacred.
The coca leaf and cocaine are like “grapes and wine”, “no one is going to become an alcoholic by eating grapes”, he emphasized.
Chewing the coca leaf in Bolivia “for a large part of the population is like (drinking) tea or coffee,” as a “light stimulant for social consumption,” British-Bolivian anthropologist Alison Spedding, who arrived in Bolivia ago, told EFE. several decades and is a unionized cocalera.
It is common to see green bags of half or one pound with coca leaves that any citizen can buy at a cost of less than a dollar in cities, markets or on the highways.
The merchant Maritza Mamani, who protects a large bundle of coca leaves with a damp cloth that she sells in a small stall in the city of La Paz, told EFE that her clients are of “all types” such as bricklayers, transporters and even bankers. .
This merchant also highlighted the properties of the coca leaf because, according to what she said, “it has all the vitamins, all the minerals, it has more calcium than milk.”
Ancestry and rites
The coca leaf has a central place in Andean rites, mainly in those “related to Pachamama” or Mother Earth to ask for prosperity.
These rites are characterized by the setting up of a table to which pieces of firewood are sharpened, with offerings of colorful shapes as well as sullus or llama fetuses, to then pour alcohol or sweet wine on them and set them on fire.
In addition, “the coca leaf is used to communicate with our ancestors (…) when a person is sick thanks to coca we know if they are going to recover or not (…) “it doesn’t matter if you believe it or not, coca says so,” he explained. to EFE Verónica, an amauta or Aymara sage, the only ones authorized to perform these rituals.
decriminalization path
The Bolivian State has sought for several years the decriminalization of the coca leaf to vindicate its traditional use and to be able to industrialize this product internationally.
Jaime Paz Zamora (1989-1993) was the first Bolivian president to raise “coca diplomacy” before international organizations, a move that was later resumed by Evo Morales (2006-2019).
Bolivia withdrew from the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs in 2012 and returned a year later with a reservation to allow chewing within its territory, which is why National Chew Day is commemorated on January 11 of each year.
The traditional chewing consists of accumulating a good amount of coca leaves in one of the cheeks combined with bicarbonate and bleach, although the “machucada” form has become popular, with a hammer blow, which is mixed with some sweetener or flavoring.
Between announcements to industrialize the production of the coca leaf and its export, the Government of Morales extended in 2017 the surface of the plant’s legal crops from 12,000 to 22,000 hectares.
However, part of the production of this plant is diverted to drug trafficking.
Once again, Bolivia has launched its campaign for the coca leaf to be removed from the list of narcotic drugs and has asked the World Health Organization (WHO) for a “critical review” of its medicinal properties.
Within the stigma attached to the coca leaf, an anecdote is remembered in the 1994 World Cup qualifiers in the USA when the players Miguel Ángel Rimba from Bolivia and Zetti from Brazil were sanctioned for finding traces of cocaine in a control anti-doping, but later it was established that they had drunk a coca tea, for which FIFA lifted the punishment.