Cocaleros in Chapare. Coca leaf production. (22 images)

Coca has been cultivated in some areas of the Chapare since the eighteenth century in small quantities. For this reason and due to the small size of these crops is not considered a traditional growing area.
It was from the 70's and 80's when coca cultivation in the Chapare suffered an unimaginable boom. The loss of jobs in mining at the continuing crisis of metals and the rise of narco-states in the Bolivian dictatorships led many miners to become cocalers.
Years later came the...
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Coca has been cultivated in some areas of the Chapare since the eighteenth century in small quantities. For this reason and due to the small size of these crops is not considered a traditional growing area.
It was from the 70's and 80's when coca cultivation in the Chapare suffered an unimaginable boom. The loss of jobs in mining at the continuing crisis of metals and the rise of narco-states in the Bolivian dictatorships led many miners to become cocalers.
Years later came the anti-narcotics laws, the U.S. aid against drug trafficking and the area became a war zone. In these years the peasant revolts, roadblocks and clashes with state forces have been frequent and bloody, claiming lives on both sides.
From this war comes the figure of Evo Morales and the most important farmers movement in the recently history of Bolivia.
At present, the Chapare is recognized as a legitimate area of cultivation in Bolivia and both, producer and production, are regulated and controlled by the state.
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