Bolivia is the third world producer of coca ( Erythroxylum coca), an original plant from the Amazonic Andes. This plant, which has been considered sacred by the aboriginal people long time before the Spaniards arrived in America, has stimulant, anaesthetic and healing properties. It also disminish hunger, thirst and fatigue. Among different chemical elements that can be found in a coca leaf, alkaloids are the most controversial, since they serve as a raw material to produce drugs like cocaine. The government of Evo Morales is launching an campaign to change the international view of this plant. Bolivia is trying to remove the coca from a category that considers this plant a drug like cocaine or heroin since the international convention, approved by the UNO, that took place in 1961.
Rosalba Vargas, 29, chews coca leaves during a women's meeting in the Villa Fátima coca market. She is a coca grower from Irupana in the Yungas region.
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A worker chews coca leaves. He earns 10 US dollars per day for filling, carrying and depositing 50-pound bags of coca leaves. These leaves are incinerated near Cochabamba because they are "excedentary" leaves (of the variety that are not for traditional consumption, but for drug production).
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A coca grower chews coca leaves during a lesson of the Yo Si Puedo literacy program at the communal house.
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Gregoriano Paco, 24, is a coca grower from Vigargazama in the El Chapare region. He chews coca leaves during a political rally in support of a benefit for the elderly currently billed in Parliament.
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Provinciano Paredo, 33, is a coca grower from Vigargazama in the El Chapare region. He chews coca leaves during a political rally in support of a benefit for the elderly currently billed in Parliament.
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Nicolás Cauna Toke, 63, chews coca leaves in the Villa Fátima coca market. He is a coca grower from Coripata in the Noryungas region.
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A half blind peasant chews coca leaves.
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Eusebio Chirque, 37, is a coca grower from Isoboro in the El Chapare region. He chews coca leaves during a political rally in support of a benefit for the elderly currently billed in Parliament.
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Simiano Condore Kauna, 49, chews coca leaves in the Villa Fatima coca market. He is a coca grower from Taipiplaga in the Yungas region.
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