Andean Information Network

Coca Leaf Policy under the Morales Administration
President Evo Morales’s policies on the cultivation, sale, and manufacture of coca leaf are inspiring a variety of economic opportunities in Bolivia’s rural areas on the eastern slope of the Andes Mountains. Coca is an ancient crop valued in Bolivia for its medicinal and nutritional properties, as well as [...]

"No es sólo un recorte a Bolivia sino a varios países de la región, pero debería haber más recursos (financieros) a la interdicción de drogas", dijo el martes el vicepresidente Alvaro García.
"El gobierno boliviano hace esfuerzos extraordinarios contra el narcotráfico", agregó.
Bush disminuyó la ayuda contra las drogas [...]

History of a Failed War 
In 1986 President Reagan declared war on drugs by citing drug trafficking a threat to US national security. Three years later the Bush administration followed suit by calling for an "assault on every front" that would reduce cocaine imports to the US 60% by 1996. His Andean Initiative allocated $2.2 billion [...]

Some points on the new agreement from the GOB information service:
According to the Bolivian government the total amount of antidrug assistance is 33,820,000 dollars, a 25 percent reduction from previous years.
  Ambassador Goldberg stated that there are over 26,000 hectares in the country, which is over the 12,000 hectare limit established by Law 1008.  The [...]

This AP article was published in the  North County Times and the Washington Post.
CARANAVI, Bolivia (AP) — On a steep slope in the Andes' eastern foothills, Paolina Quispe choked back tears as soldiers yanked her coca plants one by one from the dry soil.
A year ago she voted for Evo Morales, head of [...]

The delegation found that in the Chapare coca growing region, the new government's policy of limiting coca production is yielding positive results and the Bolivian government will likely meet its coca reduction target for the year. The lack of confrontation and violence has contributed to an environment conducive to economic development. At the national level, [...]

Originally published in the San Francisco Chronicle . 
President focuses on eradicating means of making drug, and not on coca farming
Puerto Villarroel, Bolivia — As Bolivian soldiers torch a pit filled with chemicals and coca leaves used to make cocaine, a fireball shoots toward a jungle canopy. The anti-narcotic task force destroys seven such holes [...]

Click here to view this joint Andean Information Network and Washington Office on Latin America report as a PDF. 
The December 2005 election of indigenous leader and coca grower Evo Morales marked a major turning point for South America’s poorest country. Winning 53 percent of the vote, Morales received an unprecedented mandate for change, and [...]

Progress against coca in Colombia is threatened by the perilous politics of the drug "war" and, as always, by market forces
LA MACARENA National Park is a dramatic mountain ridge that cuts like a serrated knife through the tropical grasslands of Colombia. It is a refuge for dozens of species of wildlife found in few [...]

Click here to listen to the story 
Morning Edition, December 29, 2005 · Bolivian President-Elect Evo Morales has promised to allow more coca farming, which has renewed a debate in Washington over the U.S. drug war and its heavy emphasis on coca crop eradication. Morales has said his government will try to interdict drugs, but [...]