Peruvian coca farmers to Paris pushers, coronavirus upends global narcotics trade
Countries around the world have spent billions of dollars bailing out businesses affected by the coronavirus outbreak. Peru’s coca farmers, who grow the bushy plant used to make cocaine, say they want help, too.
Prices for coca leaves sold to drug gangs have slumped 70% since Peru went on lockdown last month, according to Julián Pérez Mallqui, the head of a local growers’ organization. He said his members cater to Peru’s tightly regulated legal coca market, but acknowledged some growers sell on the black market. Peruvian officials say more than 90% of the country’s coca crop goes to traffickers who are now struggling to move product.
With the sector in turmoil, Pérez’s group is crafting a plan to ask the government to buy up excess coca inventory.
Peru “has to design clear intervention strategies for coca,” Pérez said. “We’re screwed, just like everyone else in the world.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-latam-narcotics-sp-idUSKCN2242ZI
Coca leaf, the substance used to make cocaine, should be legalized in Colombia in order to aid the peace process and help grow the country’s economy, a new report argues.
The report, titled “Coca Industrialization: A Path To Innovation, Development and Peace In Colombia” and published by the US-based Open Society Foundation, is groundbreaking in its suggestions to the Colombian government, which include guaranteeing small coca farmers with protection from prosecution, supporting research into coca’s nutritional properties and promoting the use of coca among indigenous communities.