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| A small coca farmer tends his hillside plot |
The Amazon Basin is the source of many gifts of natural
resource to the world – latex rubber, quinine, aspirin, rotenone (insecticide),
chocolate, orchids, passion fruit, Brazil nuts and many more medicinals. But
none have been as controversial as an ordinary looking bush (a cousin to the northern
Bay tree) , whose leaves contain a powerful chemical called cocaine.
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| Coca leaves are openly and legally sold in Peruvian markets Even the raw leaves and coca tea are illegal in the US |
Coca has been used for over 8,000 years by
the indigenous folks of the Amazon basin and the adjacent Andes mountains as an
important part of their culture. When chewed and activated with a pinch of lime
(the mineral, not the fruit), it produces a numbing effect in the mouth,
dulling hunger and providing an energy boost akin to a strong cup of coffee. A
tea made from coca leaves can alleviate high altitude sickness. When the
Spanish arrived, they found it useful as a tool to extract more work from their
enslaved Indians. But it was not until 1860 when a German chemist purified the
active plant component – cocaine hydrochloride, C17H21NO4 – and the genie came
out of the bottle. At first, the genie seemed benign and found use as a
surgical anesthetic and vasoconstrictor and gained popularity as a cure for
opiate addiction, headache and “malaise”, mostly in patent medicines and even a
popular soft drink (Coca-Cola). Though it found early use and abuse by
recreational users, as well, and was subsequently banned in the US in 1922.
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| A coca plantation. The shrub is hardy and grows fast. |
It was not until the 1970’s that the drug
found widespread popularity in the US, touching off an economic boom in the Amazon’s
traditionally small and quiet coca production areas in the sub-tropical
highlands, centered in the Huellaga River valley of Peru and the Coqueta River
valley of Colombia. Large coca plantations supplemented the traditional small
family plots and for a decade the regions thrived. Drug cartels made billions
and employed most every able-bodied man and woman in the area, directly or
indirectly. The boom was not without a dark side, with bloody conflicts between
the cartels for control. The violence escalated in the early 80’s, when the “Shining
Path” revolutionaries entered the fray, adding a brutal political factor to the
mix. Still, the area’s estimated 200,000
acres of coca fueled the drug trade, relatively unabated.
At the same time the US Congress decided
the best way to stem the flow of cocaine was to stop it at the source. Their initial
funding of a $400 million eradication campaign, carried out by the Peruvian
Army, was fraught with corruption and lack of local enthusiasm and destroyed a
grand total of 150 of the existing 250 million acres. When Reagan took office,
he declared the drug a threat to national security and ordered the US Military
to intervene. The military was reluctant, but the CIA and DEA happily complied
with funding, training and covert operations, none of which proved particularly
successful. In large part, the failures were due to a total lack of local
cooperation. Agents were often given false information or drug cartels were
warned of attacks well in advance. Moreover, with an estimated 4 million traditional
local users of the coca leaf, the US attacks were seen as an assault on their
heritage and culture. In total, an estimated 5,000 acres were eradicated, but
quickly replaced by other plantings of the fast growing and hardy shrub.
To this day, the coca and cocaine trade in
the Amazon basin continues as an important economic sector. Efforts to stop it
are paltry and cosmetic. The Peruvian government seems to have reached a truce
of sorts with the drug traffickers – you stay in your areas and don’t bother
the civilian population and we’ll leave you alone. It is a gentlemen’s
agreement that eliminates bloody conflict and provides billions in foreign
capital every year.
