Leiden University Student Repository

Ponte, Zane de (2017)

Defending the Coca Leaf: Bolivian Resistance and Compliance in International Drug Prohibition

Bachelor thesis | International Studies (BA)

Bolivia vigorously opposes the conflation of coca and cocaine in international drug prohibition and has innovated its domestic coca policies while pursuing an international campaign to change the coca leaf’s legal status. However, it has also taken very seriously certain commitments of the global drug prohibition regime, such as combating illegal drug trafficking and coca-paste interdiction. Bolivian policies under Evo Morales and the MAS both resist and comply to international drug prohibition. This thesis is interested in exploring the developments leading up to this change in Bolivian policy and subsequent actions undertaken domestically and in the international arena. My principal academic interest is to bring clarity to Bolivian coca policy innovations, domestic and international, in relation to the drug prohibition regime and the American drug war.

bolivia

evo morales

coca

coca leaf

cocaine

drug prohibition

international drug prohibition

war on drugs

Author

Ponte, Zane de

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

BA International Studies

Supervisors

Solheim, Havar

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en