The coca paradox: to regulate or eradicate?

In 2024, both Peru and Bolivia seized record amounts of cocaine, according to statistics obtained by InSight Crime, seizing 24 metric tonnes and 40 tonnes, respectively. Both countries showed similar willingness to pursue prohibitionist policies when it comes to cocaine. As part of this strategy, Peru forcibly destroyed around 27,000 hectares of coca leaf plantations in 2024, up from 23,000 hectares the year before. By contrast, Bolivia pursued a policy of voluntary and cooperative reduction of surplus coca totalling just 10,302 hectares in 2023, an increase of less than 0.5%.

So why such different approaches when faced with mounting cocaine seizures? What these data show are the fundamentally diverging paths that Bolivia and Peru have taken in policing the coca leaf, a plant with thousands of years of heritage in the Andean region of Latin America. They are not the only countries dealing with the nuances of drug control, but they are emblematic of the different frameworks available to Andean nations grappling with the interplay of drug control, indigenous rights, and the complex global history of the war on drugs.

As the World Health Organisation (WHO) edges closer to issuing a long-awaited recommendation on the coca leaf this November, Peru and Bolivia stand opposed on the future of a simple plant and the ways it can be treated.