International Journal on Criminology Volume 6, Number 2, Winter 2018/Spring 2019 | Page 12

Coca and Cocaine: Looking Ahead
Herrada, accused of having organized a demonstration against the murder on August
29 in Villa Tunari of a young peasant coca-farmer.
In 1995, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Interregional
Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) used the sixth Committee
B meeting of the 48 th World Health Assembly to put forward a study of global cocaine
consumption and the therapeutic use of coca leaves, with the aim of reaching
a better understanding of the health impacts of these two different products. However,
at the request of the American representative, Neil A. Boyer, the report was
never published. Shortly after this, part of the document, with no official standing,
was in fact leaked to the press. 24
In 1997, Evo Morales became an elected representative in the National Congress
and took political control of the MAS (Movement for Socialism) party, which
in 1999 enabled the election of large numbers of municipal councilors in Chapare
under that banner. These councilors opposed the "zero coca" strategy pursued by
General Banzer, who had returned to power in 1997 and would remain there until
2001, producing another political failure for the central government.
In 2002, during the second presidency of Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (the
first was 1993-1997, the second, 2002-2003), Supreme Decree 26415 was issued,
prohibiting the sale of coca leaves in Bolivia. Evo Morales was dismissed from his
position in the legislature for his part in preparing further demonstrations against
the eradication of the plant. 25 This drove him to stand for election as President,
where he came second, with more than 20% of the vote. Then, in 2003, through his
political movement, MAS, he called for Sánchez de Lozada's resignation. 26 (Sánchez
de Lozada ended up fleeing to Miami on October 17 that year.)
The people of Bolivia and the coca growers physically rejected the policy
of total eradication of coca growing, which was known as "option zero." Morales
had become a defining figure on the chessboard of Bolivian politics and signed an
agreement with President-elect Carlos Mesa, who would hold power from 2003
to 2005, 27 which aimed to slow down the destruction of coca plants prior to the
upcoming election.
In December 2005, Evo Morales was elected President of Bolivia for the first
time, with 54% of the first-round vote. Then, in April 2006, Morales' Bolivia joined
ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America 28 ). In July, a constituent
24 [Article] 4.13, contribution of traditional medicine to public health: coca leaves. Document
EB120/36.
25 Éric Dior, "Evo Morales le Bové bolivien," Marianne, July 15, 2009.
26 "A La Paz, le peuple contre le président," Le Figaro, October 18, 2003.
27 He was in turn replaced by Édouard Rodríguez Veltré, President of the Supreme Court, who was
President from June 2005 until January 2006.
28 In Spanish, the language of Simón Bolívar, “alba” means “dawn”; it is also the acronym of the
Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra América (Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of
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