International Journal on Criminology Volume 6, Number 2, Winter 2018/Spring 2019 | Page 14

Coca and Cocaine: Looking Ahead
specific circumstances: the extraction of all of the alkaloids, which is a rather complicated
process." 32
Toward the end of 2014, Evo Morales was elected President for the third
time, with 61% of the vote.
In February 2016, however, came the rejection by referendum (with less than
49% support) of proposed changes to the Constitution designed to allow Morales to
stand for election once more in 2019. In November 2016, the Bolivian Minister of
Foreign Affairs, David Choquehuanca, and his Ecuadorian counterpart, Guillaume
Long, signed a trade agreement allowing the import and export of legal coca leaves
between the two countries. Soon after this, Long, a member of the government of
Rafael Correa, was awarded the highest Bolivian honor possible, the Order of the
Condor of the Andes, in gratitude for his contribution in the matter.
In December 2016, in a meeting held at the time of the launch, in Ajaccio,
of Vin Mariani made from Bolivian coca, 33 Bolivia's Deputy Minister for Social
Defense and Controlled Substances, Felipe Cáceres, spoke to us of his hopes for
the commencement of coca leaf exports in the near future. By land, by air, and in
the medium term by sea ...
In January 2017, Evo Morales declared that he would be exporting coca
leaves to Venezuela and was considering the same move with Horacio Cartes' Paraguay,
not forgetting, of course that the same could apply to Europe through the
offices of Christophe Mariani, the man who reinvented Vin Mariani made from
Bolivian coca. 34 Then, March 8, 2017, new coca legislation was passed in Bolivia,
replacing the previous regulations known as Law 1008, which indiscriminately
criminalized ordinary small-scale coca farmers. Jorge Quiroga, President of Bolivia
from 2001-2002, commented that this latest of a long string of laws would
"bring international shame and do enormous damage to our image, to our citizens,
with the stigma and the drug-trafficking and criminality that it will encourage in
Bolivia." 35 According to him, "Reports from institutions like the European Union
and the United Nations indicate that 90% of the coca from Chapare goes to the
drug-traffickers, and this is what they want to legalize." 36
In France, the regulations still in force since December 31, 1970 and March
5, 2007 penalize the use of any narcotic substance. Their use is treated as a crime.
32 Bolivian daily, La Razón, November 15, 2013.
33 J.-J.G, "Le vin tonique Mariani repart à la conquête du monde," Corse-Matin, January 2, 2017.
34 Stéphane Reynaud, "Le grand retour du vin Mariani," Le Figaro, February 28, 2017; Ghjilormu
Padovani, "Le vin corse Mariani en passe de conquérir ... la Bolivie," Corse-Matin, March 14, 2017.
35 Marcelo Tedesqui, "Ley de coca tiene 2.795 ha más de lo que dice estudio," El Deber, February
25, 2017. Available at: https://www.pressreader.com/bolivia/el-deber/20170225/281595240306616
(accessed July 27, 2018).
36 AFP, "Bolivia presentará su nueva legislación antidroga ante la ONU," El Nacional, March 6,
2013. Available at: http://www.el-nacional.com/noticias/latinoamerica/bolivia-presentara-nuevalegislacion-antidroga-ante-onu_84015
(accessed July 27, 2018).
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