TY - JOUR
T1 - Turning over a new leaf
T2 - A subnational analysis of 'Coca yes, Cocaine no' in Bolivia
AU - Brewer-Osorio, Susan
N1 - Funding Information: I thank Dr Huáscar Salazar Lohman, Lee Cridland and the Centro de Documentación e Información Bolivia (CEDIB) for support during fieldwork in Bolivia. An earlier version of this manuscript, entitled 'Turning Over a New Leaf? Drug Policy as Clientelism in Plurinational Bolivia', was presented on 19 June 2019 at the Development Studies Association Conference in Milton Keynes, UK. The current manuscript was submitted to the Journal of Latin American Studies for review on 9 October 2019. Publisher Copyright: Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press.
PY - 2021/8/16
Y1 - 2021/8/16
N2 - International pressure to suppress cocaine trafficking sustained decades of harsh drug laws in Bolivia against cocaleros (coca producers), thus affecting coca production for traditional consumption and for manufacturing illicit cocaine. These harsh drug laws caused social unrest in cocalero communities outside traditional coca zones. President Evo Morales, leader of the Movimiento al Socialismo (Movement toward Socialism, MAS) party, implemented 'Coca Yes, Cocaine No' (CYCN), a harm-reduction strategy that authorised 'non-traditional' farmers to cultivate legal coca and self-police production. This article compares CYCN outcomes in Bolivia's traditional and non-traditional coca regions and finds that strong cocalero organisations were vital to CYCN success in non-traditional areas. In contrast, organised resistance in traditional zones restricted CYCN success and added to regime instability in the lead-up to Morales' forced resignation in 2019. Hence, while Morales harnessed state power to change drug policy, he was constrained by the rural grassroots organisations that brought him to power.
AB - International pressure to suppress cocaine trafficking sustained decades of harsh drug laws in Bolivia against cocaleros (coca producers), thus affecting coca production for traditional consumption and for manufacturing illicit cocaine. These harsh drug laws caused social unrest in cocalero communities outside traditional coca zones. President Evo Morales, leader of the Movimiento al Socialismo (Movement toward Socialism, MAS) party, implemented 'Coca Yes, Cocaine No' (CYCN), a harm-reduction strategy that authorised 'non-traditional' farmers to cultivate legal coca and self-police production. This article compares CYCN outcomes in Bolivia's traditional and non-traditional coca regions and finds that strong cocalero organisations were vital to CYCN success in non-traditional areas. In contrast, organised resistance in traditional zones restricted CYCN success and added to regime instability in the lead-up to Morales' forced resignation in 2019. Hence, while Morales harnessed state power to change drug policy, he was constrained by the rural grassroots organisations that brought him to power.
KW - Bolivia
KW - Coca
KW - Cocalero
KW - Drug policy
KW - Eradication
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U2 - 10.1017/S0022216X21000456
DO - 10.1017/S0022216X21000456
M3 - Article
SN - 0022-216X
VL - 53
SP - 573
EP - 600
JO - Journal of Latin American Studies
JF - Journal of Latin American Studies
IS - 3
ER -