COCA IS NOT COCAINE #1. Coca chewers.
Héctor Mediavilla
Bolivia is the third world producer of coca ( Erythroxylum coca), an original plant from the Amazonic Andes. This plant, which has been considered sacred by the aboriginal people long time before the Spaniards arrived in America, has stimulant, anaesthetic and healing properties. It also disminish hunger, thirst and fatigue. Among different chemical elements that can be found in a coca leaf, alkaloids are the most controversial, since they serve as a raw material to produce drugs like cocaine. The government of Evo Morales is launching an campaign to change the international view of this plant. Bolivia is trying to remove the coca from a category that considers this plant a drug like cocaine or heroin since the international convention, approved by the UNO, that took place in 1961.
Héctor Mediavilla / Picturetank MEH0136479 Rosalba Vargas, 29, chews coca leaves during a women's meeting in the Villa Fátima coca market. She is a coca grower from Irupana in the Yungas region. Infos : +33(0)143 15 63 53. SPAIN OUT - PAS DE VENTE EN ESPAGNE |
Héctor Mediavilla / Picturetank MEH0136483 A worker chews coca leaves. He earns 10 US dollars per day for filling, carrying and depositing 50-pound bags of coca leaves. These leaves are incinerated near Cochabamba because they are "excedentary" leaves (of the variety that are not for traditional consumption, but for drug production). Infos : +33(0)143 15 63 53. SPAIN OUT - PAS DE VENTE EN ESPAGNE |
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Héctor Mediavilla / Picturetank MEH0136485 A coca grower chews coca leaves during a lesson of the Yo Si Puedo literacy program at the communal house. Infos : +33(0)143 15 63 53. SPAIN OUT - PAS DE VENTE EN ESPAGNE |
Héctor Mediavilla / Picturetank MEH0136478 Gregoriano Paco, 24, is a coca grower from Vigargazama in the El Chapare region. He chews coca leaves during a political rally in support of a benefit for the elderly currently billed in Parliament. Infos : +33(0)143 15 63 53. SPAIN OUT - PAS DE VENTE EN ESPAGNE |
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Héctor Mediavilla / Picturetank MEH0136481 Provinciano Paredo, 33, is a coca grower from Vigargazama in the El Chapare region. He chews coca leaves during a political rally in support of a benefit for the elderly currently billed in Parliament. Infos : +33(0)143 15 63 53. SPAIN OUT - PAS DE VENTE EN ESPAGNE |
Héctor Mediavilla / Picturetank MEH0136484 Nicolás Cauna Toke, 63, chews coca leaves in the Villa Fátima coca market. He is a coca grower from Coripata in the Noryungas region. Infos : +33(0)143 15 63 53. SPAIN OUT - PAS DE VENTE EN ESPAGNE |
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Héctor Mediavilla / Picturetank MEH0136480 A half blind peasant chews coca leaves. Infos : +33(0)143 15 63 53. SPAIN OUT - PAS DE VENTE EN ESPAGNE |
Héctor Mediavilla / Picturetank MEH0136482 Eusebio Chirque, 37, is a coca grower from Isoboro in the El Chapare region. He chews coca leaves during a political rally in support of a benefit for the elderly currently billed in Parliament. Infos : +33(0)143 15 63 53. SPAIN OUT - PAS DE VENTE EN ESPAGNE |
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Héctor Mediavilla / Picturetank MEH0136477 Simiano Condore Kauna, 49, chews coca leaves in the Villa Fatima coca market. He is a coca grower from Taipiplaga in the Yungas region. Infos : +33(0)143 15 63 53. SPAIN OUT - PAS DE VENTE EN ESPAGNE |
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