Cocaleros en el gobierno: un enfoque crítico sobre el complejo coca-cocaína en la Bolivia del siglo XXI

Abstract

Among all the social and political conflicts Bolivia’s democracy face today, regions where coca plantations flourish represent a real trouble for any government. Behind the scenes of violence administered by the American U.S. government, and reactions coming from the coca growers’ unions, the shadow of a society where anomy prevails is creeping. From the beginning of forceful eradication of coca plantations in 1990 until President Evo Morales’ election in 2005, attempts to reach political negotiation usually end up in repression, instrumental actions like counternarcotics policies that reinforce coca production, and double discourses along with the silent increase of crime that reproduces narcotrafficking. Currently, all promises the administration of Evo Morales is offering, to pull the country out of the coca/cocaine circuit in the short run, represent no other thing than an opaque and sad illusion. The purpose of this article is to analyze different and contradictory logics that influence collective actions from the coca growers’ movement, as well as the repressive policies undertaken by the American U.S. government which only amplify chaotic circumstances of permanent threats to democracy, hindering the possibility to get legitimized solutions for the coca/cocaine circuit.