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Bolivia's Morales Lobbies for Coca
Farming
La Paz - Bolivian President Evo Morales on
Tuesday will attempt to convince the United
Nations Narcotics Substances Committee to
reexamine the legal aspects in regard to
punishment for growing coca.
Morales will present his demand at the UN
body´s three-day meeting opening on Tuesday
in Vienna, Austria.
We are defending our traditions and rituals,
not cocaine," Morales said Monday, before
leaving La Paz.
Bolivia's first indigenous president
recalled that coca leaves have been used in
traditional medicine and religious
ceremonies for thousands of years.
There are strong arguments that can be shown
to the UN in regard to the scientific,
cultural, economic, and political positive
aspects of growing coca, Morales said.
He stressed, however, his government´s
commitment with fighting drug trafficking in
Bolivia.
In 2009, we will continue destroying illegal
coca plantations, he pledged.
According to Bolivian law, no more than
5,000 hectares (12,355 acres) of coca leaves
are allowed to be sown for the country's
internal consumption. |
