I defend the coca leaf because it is a food. It is a food rich in vitamins A and C, rich in calcium, iron, fiber, protein and calories. The first evidence of food use of coca in the Andean region date back 4,500 years. At the time, and in that area, the coca plant (Erytroxylon coca) was grown and humans made it a healthy and sensible use, as is done today in the fields chewing the leaves, often with a reagent such as ash or baking soda.Coca is a plant alkaloid, as are tea and coffee, which contains several alkaloids, one of which is cocaine (present in a minimum amount, between 0.5 and 1.1% in the coca leaves) during mastication by the action of saliva, combined with the other alkali elements, decomposing to become ecgonine: This substance helps to burn stored fat in the liver to generate glucose and therefore energy. Without knowing the detailed chemical processes such as the Incas, and before them the Aymara and Quechua, they knew that chewing coca leaves provided comfort and strength. The simple act of "pijchar" or "chajtar" coca leaves, or chew and keep them in the mouth in a compact ball, fiber, means for the source of energy and nutrition.The reputation of coca, but in 1860 suffered a negative valuation when a German chemist, Albert Neimann, manages to isolate the cocaine alkaloid. It is the beginning of the spread of this devastating as a drug. It has been a tertiary amine that could have been good if its strong anesthetic toxicity and causes psychological dependence, had not aimed at researchers in the laboratory solutions obtained by modifying the molecule of cocaine. Thus was born the novocaine and many other synthetic anesthetics, while cocaine, from the twentieth century, has gained ever-increasing success as a narcotic. It took about 150 years to jeopardize millennia of culture, identity and welfare.There have been over the last century food uses of the coca leaf. In the early twentieth century a Corsican chemist, Angelo Mariani, invented an alcohol prepared from the leaves of coca, the Vin Mariani, which garnered an immediate success as a tonic and remedy for sore throat. In the United States part of the recipe to achieve, with successive adaptations, removing and adding alcohol tail, a type of nut contains caffeine and African-candy syrup, the recipe for Coca Cola: and this is the most glaring case of food use of coca leaves that have been decocainized before use. But even this stopped in 1961, the Convention of the UN in New York, United States include the coca leaf, not cocaine, as one of the most harmful drugs. Produce cocaine from coca is not simple. It takes dozens of chemicals and specialized laboratories.BOLIVIA COCA LEAF DEFEND THE UNITED NATIONSGovernment Minister Alfredo Rada said that next week a delegation from the Executive will move to Vienna (Austria) to participate in the 51 session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, United Nations, at which time Bolivia ratified "the value cultural coca leaf. ""The coca leaf for us means life and is part of the culture of living well (...). Bolivia coca defend against any threats to the traditional use of the sheet discharged by certain international organizations," said Rada .The minister said that coca is part of the political demands of the indigenous movement that has brought Evo Morales to take the presidency of the country.In its Annual Report on the International Drug Control Board (INCB) "calls upon the governments of Bolivia and Peru to initiate action without delay with a view to eliminating uses of coca leaf that are contrary to the Convention 1961, including the practice of chewing "It called on both countries think of a legal change to "abolish or prohibit" the practice of chewing coca leaves as well as "the manufacture of other products containing coca alkaloids for domestic consumption and export."In this context, Rada said the report is attempting not only to a basic principle of the original peoples of the Bolivian population but also seek to destroy our culture and our own life."It is a unilateral report content and colonialist and to refute that there is international policy documents such as the UN declaration of 1988, which recognizes the historical dimension of the coca leaf," he said.He further stated that there is the recently passed bill of rights of indigenous peoples by the UN, which recognizes the traditions of indigenous peoples in which frames the acullicu (chewing) of coca leaf that is against position indicates that the INCB said.
COCA CULTIVATION IN PERU AND BOLIVIA GREW BY REPORTRadio Programs of Peru (www.rpp.com.pe)An increase in coca cultivation in Peru and Bolivia denounced the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) in its 2007 report released in Bogota, in which he stressed that Colombia remains the world's largest exporter of cocaine.The INCB, based in Vienna, also presented in Bogotá on paper, which also asked the governments of Bolivia and Peru to "take steps to ban the sale, use and attempts to export coca leaf for purposes inconsistent with treaties of international drug control. "Regarding the growth of coca cultivation in these two countries, the report noted that in Peru, "increased to 51,400 hectares in 2006," while in Bolivia increased "to 27,500 hectares."As for Colombia, said he is still the largest exporter of cocaine to the U.S. and Europe, although it recognized the efforts to reduce coca cultivation, since in 2006 reported a "remarkable" decline "up to 78,000 hectares ".That figure, the report added, "is equivalent to about half that recorded in 2000 (163.000 hectares)."Despite this situation, in Colombia "eradication efforts were offset by improved farming methods, planting new varieties of coca bush and the increasing efficiency of clandestine laboratories that process coca" .On Latin America, the INCB noted that "virtually all countries produce cannabis," noting that "the main producer in the region is Paraguay", which serves partly to Brazil.Also called attention to the fact that in Venezuela "the volume of cannabis seized in 2006 reached over 21 tons", while in Ecuador and Peru "volumes were lower seizure".REFUSE ORDER IN PERU AND BOLIVIA TO ABOLISH coca chewingRadio Programs of Peru (www.rpp.com.pe)While the Peruvian government announced that it will evaluate the recommendations of the United Nations to abolish the practice of chewing coca leaves, Congresswoman Maria Sumire Cusco expressed their opposition to this request. Bolivia also challenged the report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB). The parliamentary Sumire said that the UN has been disrespectful to the native peoples of Peru and Bolivia, coca leaf consumed since time immemorial.He noted that this report is unknown ancestral customs of rural communities regarding the use of coca leaf for medicinal purposes, in their agricultural and ceremonial practices. "The use of the coca leaf is prior to any distortion that is recorded in our society today, said Sumire.Likewise, the Bolivian government rejected the recommendation of the INCB. Minister Alfredo Rada said that it is a report with a unilateral high colonialism.According to Rada said, would eliminate these traditional practices such as ending much of "our culture and our own life."Meanwhile, the Peruvian Minister of Justice, Rosario Fernandez, announced that the government of President Alan Garcia will evaluate these recommendations. "All you have to do with the health care needs to be addressed," he added.Prohibited practice of chewing coca leaves in Peru and BoliviaTo enact domestic measures to prohibit the practice of chewing coca leaves in Peru and Bolivia, and the use of that plant in the manufacture of products for mass consumption, established the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).The organization in its 2007 annual report presented in the Colombian capital, calls upon the governments of Bolivia and Peru to initiate action without delay with a view to eliminating uses of coca leaf that are contrary to the 1961 Convention, including the practice of chewing.This recommendation clashes with the traditional and medicinal uses of this plant ancestral in both countries, and also questions the use of coca leaf for industrial purposes, in any of its presentations, like making tea, mate and coca flour.Chewing coca leaves have an impact on increasing the drug, so it is necessary to eradicate this practice, particularly among youth, according to the report of the INCB.The cultivation of the coca leaf is considered illegal by the United Nations, considered a raw material in the production of cocainePuno region on the eve passed an ordinance legalizing the cultivation of coca leaf, before Cuzco and Huanuco also adopted similar rules, but were outlawed by the Constitutional Court.EUROPE SUPPORT WITH 36 MILLION TO FIGHT DRUGS IN BOLIVIAU.S. Univision (www.univision.com)The European Union granted 36 million euros (54.8 million) to Bolivia to support its National Plan to Combat Drug Trafficking through 2013.Of the total, 26 million euros will be allocated for the "development of coca growing areas" of the Yungas in the mountain valleys in the east of La Paz and in the tropical Chapare (center), from which emerged as a union leader Bolivian President Evo Morales.Another 10 million will be aimed at social control of coca crops, ie trade unions who are involved in the rationalization of the ancient cultures of plant, raw material for making cocaine.Bolivia has, according to UN data, with 26,000 hectares of coca, of which only 12,000 are considered legal for traditional uses such as tea, chewing and Aymara-religious rites after eradicating 6,100 hectares in 2007.The agreement with the European Union was signed by the head of the delegation Kenneth Bell and the Minister of Government (Interior), Alfredo Rada.Rada said Bolivia supports the thesis of "coca yes, cocaine no" and also "will not accept external certifications," referring to approvals issued annually by the United States to countries that support or not the fight against drugs .
BOLIVIA dismissed as "colonialist" UN REPORT OF BAN COCA CHEWINGGovernment of Evo Morales vindicate the value of the plant before the Commission on narcotic drugs meeting in Vienna.Trade in Ecuador (www.elcomercio.com.pe)The Government of Evo Morales on Tuesday crossed out "colonialist" the UN report seeking ban on Bolivia and Peru chew coca and announced that next week will claim the value of the plant before the Commission on narcotic drugs meeting in Vienna."We reject the report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB, organ of the UN). We think it is a unilateral report is a report that is high colonialist", declared Minister of Government (Interior) Alfredo Rada.He alluded to the INCB report urged today to Bolivia and Peru "to take action without delay with a view to eliminating uses of coca leaf that are contrary to the 1961 Convention, including the practice of chewing."According to Rada, the Morales administration, which for 12 years is the main leader of the coca growers of Bolivia largest union, does not accept "unilateral certifications or impositions from foreign governments.""For us the means coca leaf is part of life and culture of living well. Since our ancestors has been part of our daily lives," Rada said referring to the ritual practices in traditional medicine and "eating habits".Bolivia next week will send a mission to Vienna for a meeting of the commission of the UN drug reaffirm "the cultural and economic system with the coca leaf, against potential threats to the traditional use of the leaf" the minister said.He addressed the issue during a ceremony in which the Head of the Delegation of the European Commission, Kenneth Bell, signed agreements to contribute 36 million euros (about $ 54 million) for this war in the country.According to a report from the EU, of the 36 million for counternarcotics programs, 26 million (about $ 39 million) will finance the agreement "Support to the implementation of comprehensive national development plan with cocaine."Another 10 million euros (about $ 15 million) will be for the "Support for the social control of coca production."These resources will produce a register of producers of coca, their plots, the geographical demarcation of production areas, rationalization of the plant and information on alternative crops dimension to the plant.Since 1998, the European Commission has contributed to Bolivia with 50 million euros (equivalent to 76 million) to projects for the development of alternative crops to coca.PRODUCTION OF COCAINE IN LATIN AMERICA CONTINUES DESPITE EFFORTS ERADICATIONWeather in Colombia (www.eltiempo.com)In the past 10 years has remained between 800 and 1,000 tons annually, as revealed by the annual report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) of the UN.The agency is responsible for ensuring compliance with international treaties on drugs."The encouraging developments that followed logging in the region with regard to the eradication of illicit cultivation of coca bush were offset by improved farming techniques used by farmers for planting new varieties of bush Coca and the greater efficiency of the laboratories, "the report said.In some areas of Colombia can collect up to eight crops of coca leaves a year, according to a study in the countries listed by the Board, growers can make paste up to three quarters of the production of coca leaf.Therefore, the potential annual production of cocaine in South America "remained at about 800 to 1,000 tons per year in the period between 1997 and 2006."In 2006, the acreage of coca leaf in South America reached 156,900 hectares, 29 percent less than in 2000.Colombia, with 50 percent of the total, Peru with 33 percent, and Bolivia, with 17 percent, are the three countries with more hectares of coca in the world.Colombia reduced coca cultivation to 78,000 hectares, half of what it was in 2000, the INCB said. And in 2006 seized 170.1 tons of cocaine hydrochloride and cocaine base
COCA CULTIVATION IN PERU AND BOLIVIA GREW BY REPORTRadio Programs of Peru (www.rpp.com.pe)An increase in coca cultivation in Peru and Bolivia denounced the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) in its 2007 report released in Bogota, in which he stressed that Colombia remains the world's largest exporter of cocaine.The INCB, based in Vienna, also presented in Bogotá on paper, which also asked the governments of Bolivia and Peru to "take steps to ban the sale, use and attempts to export coca leaf for purposes inconsistent with treaties of international drug control. "Regarding the growth of coca cultivation in these two countries, the report noted that in Peru, "increased to 51,400 hectares in 2006," while in Bolivia increased "to 27,500 hectares."As for Colombia, said he is still the largest exporter of cocaine to the U.S. and Europe, although it recognized the efforts to reduce coca cultivation, since in 2006 reported a "remarkable" decline "up to 78,000 hectares ".That figure, the report added, "is equivalent to about half that recorded in 2000 (163.000 hectares)."Despite this situation, in Colombia "eradication efforts were offset by improved farming methods, planting new varieties of coca bush and the increasing efficiency of clandestine laboratories that process coca" .On Latin America, the INCB noted that "virtually all countries produce cannabis," noting that "the main producer in the region is Paraguay", which serves partly to Brazil.Also called attention to the fact that in Venezuela "the volume of cannabis seized in 2006 reached over 21 tons", while in Ecuador and Peru "volumes were lower seizure".REFUSE ORDER IN PERU AND BOLIVIA TO ABOLISH coca chewingRadio Programs of Peru (www.rpp.com.pe)While the Peruvian government announced that it will evaluate the recommendations of the United Nations to abolish the practice of chewing coca leaves, Congresswoman Maria Sumire Cusco expressed their opposition to this request. Bolivia also challenged the report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB). The parliamentary Sumire said that the UN has been disrespectful to the native peoples of Peru and Bolivia, coca leaf consumed since time immemorial.He noted that this report is unknown ancestral customs of rural communities regarding the use of coca leaf for medicinal purposes, in their agricultural and ceremonial practices. "The use of the coca leaf is prior to any distortion that is recorded in our society today, said Sumire.Likewise, the Bolivian government rejected the recommendation of the INCB. Minister Alfredo Rada said that it is a report with a unilateral high colonialism.According to Rada said, would eliminate these traditional practices such as ending much of "our culture and our own life."Meanwhile, the Peruvian Minister of Justice, Rosario Fernandez, announced that the government of President Alan Garcia will evaluate these recommendations. "All you have to do with the health care needs to be addressed," he added.Prohibited practice of chewing coca leaves in Peru and BoliviaTo enact domestic measures to prohibit the practice of chewing coca leaves in Peru and Bolivia, and the use of that plant in the manufacture of products for mass consumption, established the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).The organization in its 2007 annual report presented in the Colombian capital, calls upon the governments of Bolivia and Peru to initiate action without delay with a view to eliminating uses of coca leaf that are contrary to the 1961 Convention, including the practice of chewing.This recommendation clashes with the traditional and medicinal uses of this plant ancestral in both countries, and also questions the use of coca leaf for industrial purposes, in any of its presentations, like making tea, mate and coca flour.Chewing coca leaves have an impact on increasing the drug, so it is necessary to eradicate this practice, particularly among youth, according to the report of the INCB.The cultivation of the coca leaf is considered illegal by the United Nations, considered a raw material in the production of cocainePuno region on the eve passed an ordinance legalizing the cultivation of coca leaf, before Cuzco and Huanuco also adopted similar rules, but were outlawed by the Constitutional Court.EUROPE SUPPORT WITH 36 MILLION TO FIGHT DRUGS IN BOLIVIAU.S. Univision (www.univision.com)The European Union granted 36 million euros (54.8 million) to Bolivia to support its National Plan to Combat Drug Trafficking through 2013.Of the total, 26 million euros will be allocated for the "development of coca growing areas" of the Yungas in the mountain valleys in the east of La Paz and in the tropical Chapare (center), from which emerged as a union leader Bolivian President Evo Morales.Another 10 million will be aimed at social control of coca crops, ie trade unions who are involved in the rationalization of the ancient cultures of plant, raw material for making cocaine.Bolivia has, according to UN data, with 26,000 hectares of coca, of which only 12,000 are considered legal for traditional uses such as tea, chewing and Aymara-religious rites after eradicating 6,100 hectares in 2007.The agreement with the European Union was signed by the head of the delegation Kenneth Bell and the Minister of Government (Interior), Alfredo Rada.Rada said Bolivia supports the thesis of "coca yes, cocaine no" and also "will not accept external certifications," referring to approvals issued annually by the United States to countries that support or not the fight against drugs .
BOLIVIA dismissed as "colonialist" UN REPORT OF BAN COCA CHEWINGGovernment of Evo Morales vindicate the value of the plant before the Commission on narcotic drugs meeting in Vienna.Trade in Ecuador (www.elcomercio.com.pe)The Government of Evo Morales on Tuesday crossed out "colonialist" the UN report seeking ban on Bolivia and Peru chew coca and announced that next week will claim the value of the plant before the Commission on narcotic drugs meeting in Vienna."We reject the report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB, organ of the UN). We think it is a unilateral report is a report that is high colonialist", declared Minister of Government (Interior) Alfredo Rada.He alluded to the INCB report urged today to Bolivia and Peru "to take action without delay with a view to eliminating uses of coca leaf that are contrary to the 1961 Convention, including the practice of chewing."According to Rada, the Morales administration, which for 12 years is the main leader of the coca growers of Bolivia largest union, does not accept "unilateral certifications or impositions from foreign governments.""For us the means coca leaf is part of life and culture of living well. Since our ancestors has been part of our daily lives," Rada said referring to the ritual practices in traditional medicine and "eating habits".Bolivia next week will send a mission to Vienna for a meeting of the commission of the UN drug reaffirm "the cultural and economic system with the coca leaf, against potential threats to the traditional use of the leaf" the minister said.He addressed the issue during a ceremony in which the Head of the Delegation of the European Commission, Kenneth Bell, signed agreements to contribute 36 million euros (about $ 54 million) for this war in the country.According to a report from the EU, of the 36 million for counternarcotics programs, 26 million (about $ 39 million) will finance the agreement "Support to the implementation of comprehensive national development plan with cocaine."Another 10 million euros (about $ 15 million) will be for the "Support for the social control of coca production."These resources will produce a register of producers of coca, their plots, the geographical demarcation of production areas, rationalization of the plant and information on alternative crops dimension to the plant.Since 1998, the European Commission has contributed to Bolivia with 50 million euros (equivalent to 76 million) to projects for the development of alternative crops to coca.PRODUCTION OF COCAINE IN LATIN AMERICA CONTINUES DESPITE EFFORTS ERADICATIONWeather in Colombia (www.eltiempo.com)In the past 10 years has remained between 800 and 1,000 tons annually, as revealed by the annual report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) of the UN.The agency is responsible for ensuring compliance with international treaties on drugs."The encouraging developments that followed logging in the region with regard to the eradication of illicit cultivation of coca bush were offset by improved farming techniques used by farmers for planting new varieties of bush Coca and the greater efficiency of the laboratories, "the report said.In some areas of Colombia can collect up to eight crops of coca leaves a year, according to a study in the countries listed by the Board, growers can make paste up to three quarters of the production of coca leaf.Therefore, the potential annual production of cocaine in South America "remained at about 800 to 1,000 tons per year in the period between 1997 and 2006."In 2006, the acreage of coca leaf in South America reached 156,900 hectares, 29 percent less than in 2000.Colombia, with 50 percent of the total, Peru with 33 percent, and Bolivia, with 17 percent, are the three countries with more hectares of coca in the world.Colombia reduced coca cultivation to 78,000 hectares, half of what it was in 2000, the INCB said. And in 2006 seized 170.1 tons of cocaine hydrochloride and cocaine base
