The Andean Information Network promotes human rights and socioeconomic justice in Bolivia and more humane and effective illicit drug control policies. AIN provides information and analysis to NGO colleagues, the media and international policymakers on developments in Bolivia and the impact of U.S. government and European policies. Working closely with civil society organizations in Latin America and in the United States, AIN promotes policy dialogue and the development of pragmatic alternatives that address the underlying economic, social, political and cultural needs of Bolivia.

El AIN promueve los derechos humanos y la justicia socio-económica en Bolivia, así como políticas de control de drogas ilícitas que sean más humanas y eficaces.

L’AIN promeut les droits humains et la justice socio-économique en Bolivie, ainsi que des politiques de contrôle des drogues plus humaines et efficaces.

Andean Information Network (AIN)

By Marianne Coulavin, Student - MA Program 'Policies and Practices in International Organizations', Sciences Po Grenoble*

As almost all coca leaf markets have been severely disrupted by the pandemic situation and prices have fallen, coca growers throughout the Andean region are in dire need of assistance.

Bolivia: Power struggle between the Áñez government and farmers of the Chapare region

Since the highly-contested ousting of former president Evo Morales in November, a power struggle has been taking place between the interim right-wing regime of Jeanine Áñez and coca growers, especially those in the Chapare region.

According to Kathryn Ledebur, from the Andean Information Network (AIN), the government has taken advantage of the pandemic to cut off the Chapare region, where coca farmers are known supporters of Evo Morales. This siege has resulted in fuel shortages and made growing communities unable to access the government’s aid scheme set up to mitigate some of the impacts of the COVID-19 situation. The regime’s apparent vendetta has been riposted to with protests and blockades.

The pandemic has had and continues to have a significant impact on coca growers throughout the country. Coca leaf prices have collapsed and although they are now rising, they remain worryingly low.

To make matters worse, farmers who cannot find a legal outlet for their crops are caught between a rock and a hard place, as markets are still paralysed. As mentioned above, the government has launched three emergency subsidies, but this aid is far from reaching all the families who need it.

Moreover, since the interim government took power, the policy regarding coca cultivation has changed. What used to be tolerated and even encouraged in recognition of coca’s embeddedness in the cultural and traditional practices of the region (Morales was a cocalero himself), is now stigmatised and criminalised.

Rather than proposing a comprehensive development plan, the government has vowed to resume bygone coercive practices. Quarantine rules enacted in March have led to a standby in eradication plans. And most farmers have managed to weather hardship by having recourse to their own production (most farmers grow crops other than coca). But it is extremely likely that the pandemic will have dramatic and lasting effects in the country’s growing tensions.

Colombia: Farmers trapped between eradication task forces and armed groups

Unlike Bolivia, the Colombian government has not stopped its eradication campaign while imposing lockdown restrictions. Quite the contrary. Eradication task forces conducted such operations without protective equipment, raising fears of COVID-19 infections and violating the spirit and word of the 2016 Peace Accord.

Indeed, the Accord stipulates that the eradication of illicit crops must be voluntary. These eradication operations, which are often violent, threaten the lives of farmers, destroying their main means of subsistence and food supply, and leading to gross human rights violations.

The Duque government also expected to resume aerial spraying of glyphosate on coca fields, which had been stopped in 2015 due to concerns about the risks this chemical poses to human health and environmental sustainability. But this plan was suspended by the Constitutional Court until robust guarantees were offered by the government. In addition, on 21 August, another, local, court ordered the National Army to stop the forced eradication of illicit crops and to give priority to crop substitution.

Farmers are also threatened by powerful armed groups that rival official authorities in certain regions. Activists, human rights defenders, union and other community leaders have been killed by the hundreds in near absolute impunity.

In this context, some farmers are more frightened by the eradication task forces and armed groups than the pandemic.

The economic impact of the pandemic on coca growing communities should not be overlooked either. As in Bolivia, the price of coca has fallen and markets are paralysed, undermining families’ livelihoods and entrenching rural precarity.

Peru: The government is trying, but it’s not enough

In Peru, the price of coca leaf is reported to have gone down by up to 70 percent. This drop, accompanied by market paralysis, has raised concerns for the foreseeable future for farmers, although the price is expected to rise again once the lockdown restrictions are eased.

The state-owned company ENACO continues to operate, but most farmers sell their production to illicit operators and ENACO is unlikely to help them by buying their coca leaves.

In addition to coca, most farmers grow other crops, such as corn and bananas. But for them coca cultivation is a central means of subsistence. Even at reduced prices, coca generally yields more income than crops such as coffee or cocoa, of which prices have also been affected by the pandemic.

Since the introduction of the lockdown, the Peruvian government has stopped eradicating coca and is working with farmers to provide assistance. However, according to AIN, this aid has been unevenly attributed and many families are still waiting for it.

Peruvian authorities have also tried to take advantage of low coca prices to try to convince farmers to grow alternative crops, investing in coca-producing regions. However, without credible safety nets and clear commitments toward sustained investment, this incentive alone is not likely to be enough to prompt the switch. Researchers fear an upcoming recession may lead to the opposite, a new cultivation boom driven by one of the most resilient and established crops in the region: the coca leaf.

* This blog post was produced within the framework of a 4-month volunteering experience placement at the International Drug Policy Consortium as part of the student's MA Program 'Policies and Practices in International Organizations' at Sciences Po Grenoble.

Coca growers in Latin America need support, now

By Kathryn Ledebur, Linda Farthing and Thomas Grisaffi

Bolivia has seen widespread public protests in recent months against the interim government, led by Jeanine Añez, which has twice postponed elections due to coronavirus. Her government has repeatedly violated its mandate by passing new laws and persecuting its political opponents, including coca growers in the Chapare region east of Cochabamba, who we collaborate with on research projects.

Bolivia is the world’s third largest producer of cocaine, a drug manufactured from coca leaves, which is central to Andean culture. Under the previous government of Evo Morales, coca growers benefited from a programme that allowed them to cultivate a plot of coca up to 2,500 square metres, and actively engaged farmers to self-police to respect these limits.

This policy, which emphasised community participation and respect for human rights, was lauded and funded by the European Union. Internationally recognised in the mainstream press as best practice in this area, Bolivia’s community coca control programme has long served as an example for cooperation in other parts of the world.

But this approach was recently reversed. One former EU official in the country confidentially told us that this represents a “significant setback”. Yet the EU has been helping to make this happen.

Bolivia reverses years of progress with new draconian cocaine policy, supported by the European Union

Lack of opportunities, marginalization and state neglect typify drug crop production worldwide. But while these issues are at the heart of economic and social development policies, drug crops are primarily conceptualized as a crime and security issue. In the Andes, this has led to policies over the past 40 years that prioritize the forced eradication of the coca leaf, the principal raw material in refined cocaine, under intense pressure from the U.S. government.

Turning over a new leaf: Regional applicability of innovative drug crop control policy in the Andes

By Luis Felipe Cruz Olivera, Teresa Garcia Castro, Kathryn Ledebur, and Isabel Pereira

In Latin America, the lives of women who grow plants destined for illicit markets are marked by several forms of discrimination: because they are women, because they are rural farmers, and because their livelihood depends on an activity that has been declared illegal. The so-called “war on drugs” and the marginalization of rural life have erected walls behind which the role of women as agents of social transformation is hidden and rendered invisible. Beyond the numerous challenges they face, women growers of coca and opium poppy have played a critical role in sustaining and improving rural livelihoods, caring for families, in community organization, and in social movements. From their fight to assert the rights of coca-grower movements in Bolivia to their contribution to peace building in Colombia, women growers have been crucial agents of change in their communities. Their active participation—whether in farmer organizations, assemblies, agrarian unions, or other collectives—has given them new tools and knowledge for interacting with government entities and achieving important local objectives. Women coca or poppy growers not only build knowledge and capacities in their territories; they also contribute on a daily basis to the transformation and improvement of their realities, and that of their families and villages. Given the silence and dearth of information regarding the role of women in community life in areas where crops declared illicit are grown, this report explores who these women growers are, their socioeconomic contexts, their involvement in the production of crops destined for illicit markets, their organizing experiences, and their participation in decisionmaking processes—taking into account case studies from Bolivia and Colombia. Furthermore, the report presents recommendations focused on ensuring the participation of women growers in political and public life at all levels of decision-making.

Women coca and poppy growers mobilising for social change

At his inauguration ceremony a year ago, Colombian President Ivan Duque promised a forceful crackdown on drug trafficking, especially cocaine, through “the eradication and substitution of illegal crops.” Under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, he is now pushing to restart aerial spraying of coca plantations using the herbicide glyphosate, which is “probably carcinogenic to humans,” according to the World Health Organization.

Meanwhile, in nearby Bolivia, President Evo Morales has taken a different route, expanding legal coca cultivation while relying only on domestic law enforcement agencies to tackle drug trafficking. This coca policy will be one of many issues on voters’ minds when they go to the polls this fall to decide whether Morales should be reelected for an unprecedented fourth term.

Eradication vs. legal coca: Colombia and Bolivia’s disparate drug policies

LONDON [27 JUNE 2019] – Harm Reduction International and almost 120 human rights organisations from around the world – including Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists – published open letters today calling on the United Nations’ major drug control bodies to intervene and help stop Sri Lanka’s move to resume executions after 43 years.

President Maithripala Sirisena signed the execution warrants this week for four people convicted of drug-related offences.

The letters – sent to the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) and UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) – underscore that the death penalty for drug offences violates international human rights law. The signatories state that “Remaining silent as Sri Lanka puts an end to a 43-year de facto moratorium on executions would strike a blow to the INCB’s and UNODC’s commitments to human rights compliance as a core principle of international drug policy.”

Giada Girelli, human rights analyst at Harm Reduction International, said: “There is simply no evidence that the death penalty is an effective deterrent against the drug trade. President Sirisena’s move is a gross violation of human rights – UN bodies must urge authorities in Sri Lanka to reverse this and work to consign the death penalty to the history books.”

Harm Reduction International’s latest research shows that global executions for drug offences fell by almost 90% from 2015-18, in large part because of judicial reforms in Iran. Of the 35 countries that retain the death penalty for drug offences, only four carried out executions in 2018 (China, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Singapore).

Over 100 human rights groups urge UN to demand Sri Lanka halt executions of drug offenders

No mês de abril de 2019, o presidente do Brasil, Jair Bolsonaro, decretou o fim das políticas públicas de Redução de Danos no país, reforçando a guerra as drogas

. A guerra as drogas é sempre uma guerra contra as pessoas, contra a saúde, contra direitos e contra a ciência.

A decisão do atual presidente potencializa a estigmatização das pessoas que usam drogas e fomenta a militarização dos territórios compostos pela população mais vulnerável, autorizando uma verdadeira chacina de pobres e negros das periferias das cidades brasileiras.

A delegação brasileira presente a 26 edição da Conferência Internacional de Redução de Danos, realizada em Portugal, na cidade do Porto, pede o apoio da comunidade internacional para assegurar a manutenção das políticas de redução de danos no Brasil e as conquistas que essas políticas produziram ao longo dos últimos trinta anos.

1. Acción Semilla, Bolívia
2. Acción Andina, Bolívia
3. Acción Técnica Social (ATS), Colombia
4. Andean Information Network, Bolivia
5. Asociación Costarricense para el Estudio e Intervención en Drogas (ACEID), Costa Rica
6. Baltimore County Health Department in the Harm Reduction Program Syringe Services Program, EUA
7. CAFAC y Cultura Joven A.C., México
8. Campaña por la Descriminalización de las Personas Usuarias de Drogas en Bolivia
9. Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales, Argentina
10. Centro de Orientación e Investigación Integral (COIN), República Dominicana
11. Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos
12. Corporación Humanas, Colombia
13. Drug Policy Alliance, EUA
14. Ecuador Cannábico, Equador
15. Elementa DDHH, Colombia
16. Enlace, Espanha
17. Estudiantes por una Política Sensata de Drogas (EPSD), Bolivia
18. Federación Andaluza ENLACE
19. Frontline AIDS
20. Harm Reduction Coalition, EUA
21. Hawaii Health & Harm Reduction Center in Honolulu, HI, EUA
22. International Harm Reduction Association, Inglaterra
23. Instituto RIA (Mexico)
24. Intercambios Asociacion Civil, Argentina
25. Intercambios, Porto Rico
26. Latinoamérica Reforma, Chile
27. Law Enforcement Action Partnership, EUA
28. MUCD, Mexico
29. Observatorio de Cultivos y Cultivadores Declarados ilícitos (OCCDI), Colômbia
30. Open Aid Alliance's, EUA
31. Programa Libertas, Bolívia
32. Temblores ONG, Colombia
33. The Association for Humane Drug Policy, Noruega
34. Transnational Institute - Drugs & Democracy Programme, Holanda
35. Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), EUA

Declaração das organizações da sociedade civil sobre Brasil em HR19

In April 2019, the president Jair Bolsonaro declared the end of Harm Reduction public policies in Brazil, reinforcing the War on Drugs. The War on Drugs HAS ALWAYS BEEN a war against people, against Public Health, against Human Rights and against Science.

This decision worsens the stigmatization of people who use drugs. It also fosters the militarization of neighbourhoods composed of the most vulnerable populations; authorizing murder and imprisonment of poor and black people from the favelas and other marginalized regions of our cities.

The Brazilian delegation, present at the 26th International Conference on Harm Reduction held in Portugal in the city of Porto, requests the support of the international community to ensure the continuation of harm reduction policies in Brazil and the recognition of the achievements these policies have made over the last thirty years.

Brazil Statement at HR19

The transition from the repressive alternative development initiatives conditioned on forced eradication of coca to a model grounded in the principles of inclusive citizenship and sustainable development has been a revolutionary process in Bolivia.

For the past 20 years, AIN’s Kathryn Ledebur has been studying the impact of coca cultivation and development efforts aimed at limiting coca cultivation in Bolivia. She has witnessed the change from the repressive and ineffectual alternative development initiatives conditioned on forced eradication to a model grounded in the principles of inclusive citizenship and sustainable development.

This past April, Ledebur participated in the Illicit Economies & Development Colloquium held in London, where she discussed the benefits of the Bolivian model for crop regulation and sustainable development.

Ledebur highlights the following points in a video published by IED :

Illicit crop cultivation is about poverty and people needing to feed their families.

Famers can diversify their sources of income once their basic needs are met and when they aren't under the threat of military intervention or losing their source of livelihood.

Famers need to be at the center of these policies and engaged and treated as citizens in a productive role with the state and international institutions.

Andean Information Network (AIN)

Region

Translations

Related Content