Coca Is Not a Dirty Word

Alison DeGuide, uscpublicdiplomacy.org

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Excerpt:

In light of a recent ruling by Bolivia’s constitutional court allowing current President Evo Morales to run for a fourth term in office, it is worth exploring one of the issues he cares about. Namely, the coca leaf. ...

Morales has been working diligently to rebrand the leaf. One of his public diplomacy efforts in this vein was the “Coca Sí, Cocaína No” (Coca Yes, Cocaine No) campaign, which focused on appropriating the plant for shampoo, wine and tea as well as stopping the haphazard U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-led destruction of coca fields across the country. Bolivia's government has also commended the creation of the soft drink Coca Brynco, an energy drink whose main ingredient is coca. ...

Demand creates supply, but in Bolivia’s case, the demand comes from elsewhere. Perhaps if the U.S. decreased its cocaine consumption, we would not see the coca leaf in such a bad light. Perhaps if North America did not constitute the largest consumer of cocaine in the world, we would not be so afraid of a crop’s potential.

Morales’ campaign has made it clear that the crop’s historical importance to the Bolivian people has nothing to do with drugs, but for the U.S. and other major cocaine-consuming countries, the crop is relevant only because of its potential use in drugs.

What this suggests is that branding in any form, whether it be national or product-based, cannot be a substitute for foreign policy. Branding is great, but it is not a panacea. Until countries like the U.S. see a marked decrease in their citizens’ cocaine consumption, they will likely be reticent to condone anything that reminds them of it.

Unfortunately for Evo Morales and his public diplomacy efforts to defend coca farmers, this means that Bolivia’s sacred crop will continue to be a dirty word in the minds of Washington policymakers.