Ww DOCUMENT-BASED QUESTION THE GEOGRAPHY OF COCAINE Question: In certain regions of Latin America coca leaves are grown, harvested, and produced into cocaine for distribution into North ‘America and Europe. Describe how economic and political influences, combined with geographic and social factors, have made this activity an issue in both South America and North America. GEOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND ‘Any geographical discussion of northwestern South America today must take note of its most widespread activities: the production of illegal narcotics. Of the ‘enormous flow of illicit drugs that enter the United States each year, the most widely used substance undoubtedly is cocaine... all of which comes from South ‘America, mainly Bolivia, Peru, and Columbia (the sources of more than 75% of the total world supply). Within these three countries, cocaine annually brings in billions of (U.S.) dollars and “employs” thousands of workers, constituting an industry that functions as a powerful economic force. The wealthy drug barons who operate the industry have accumulated considerable power through bribery of politicians and police officials, threats of terrorism, and alliances with guerrilla movements in outlying zones beyond governmental control. The cocaine industry itself is structured iwithin a tightly organized network of territories that encompass the various stages of this drug's production. DOCUMENT 4 FWe celebrate our hollow itt victories that don't mean anything because of the magnitude of the problem. The truth is that every day the traffickers are stronger leconomically and politically." ‘Source: A U.S. anti-narcotics agent commenting on the Colombian cocaine cartels DOCUMENT 2 IsCoca-leaf chewing is an ancient, multifaceted ritual in the Andes. Slow ingestion lof small amounts of cocaine counters hunger, fatigue, and the effects of living at la high altitude." ‘Source: Peter White, editor for National Geographic.DOCUMENT 3 , "There is a three-inch ceramic head of a man with the characteristic chewers bulge in his left cheek." ‘Source: a description of an artifact at a museum in Ecuador, circa 1500 B.C. DOCUMENT 4 |"Coca-Cola was once a cocaine-based soft drink before its manufacturers ‘switched to caffeine in about 1900. Yes, there's still something from the coca |plant in Coca-Cola, and no, it isn't cocaine. Coca leaves from Peru and Bolivia fare shipped to a chemical factory in New Jersey, their cocaine is extracted for Imedical use, and from what's left of them comes a flavoring agent, to go in minuscule amounts, into the Coca-Cola enjoyed in over 175 countries." Source: a Coca-Cola official in National Geographic DOCUMENT 5 "As soon as tourists arrive in two-mile-high Cuzco, the old Inca capital, the hotel Serves fresh-brewed coca tea, It smells like spinach and it's good." ‘Source: French tourist commenting on South American visit DOCUMENT 6 "When | ask, extra politely, do you ever worry about what cocaine can do fo People who use it, the answer is, oh, | don't use it, or supply it to addicts, i's just j2 business. Or | hear what | heard in Columbia, yes, it's wrong, but how else can lwe make a decent living?" Source: National Geographic reporter DOCUMENT 7 "The coca plant is tough. Planting up to two years old can easily ba pulled up, bul after five years, when they're waist-high here, you need a winch or have to dig them out. You can cut them, of course, but unless it's done at ground level, they might sprout again, producing more than ever. The ideal way would be to leradicate the coca with herbicide from airplanes. But even the Bolivian government is against that. And how can we press them on this when a U.S. ‘ederal court stopped the spraying of our own marijuana crop in Georgia and Kentucky?" Source: A U.S. embassy official in Boliviaand DOCUMENT 8 ‘You don't hear of the people who take cocaine iva disciplined manner. More white-collar professionals use it than you think. We do it discreetly, of course, because it's illegal." Source: A Washington D.C. businessman commenting for National Geographic DOCUMENT 9 [Let's have a real war on drugs! Send troops to suppress the coca growing, an intemational military force. Cut off all aid to countries that dont cooperate enough, quarantine them. Insist on eradication of all coca plants with herbicide ‘spraying from the air." Source: An American politician DOCUMENT 10 ihe West, represented by the United States Is tying to carry outa definitive] [Genocide and ethnocide against Andean peopie by eliminating and eradicating lour coca leaf, "They cannot do so. The eradication of the coca leaf ‘would mean death for Andean people. Coca is everything for us, our material survives ear myths, our {To carry out their goal the United States blames Andean coca producing nations or their spiritual diseases that are wracking the nation, confusing coca with ejaine. Our peoples did not invent, nor do they use cocaine. It wae the industrialized West that created the drug ... The sacred coca plant ... will outlive all of the destructive forces, surviving ‘forever. The coca leaf is destined to cure the Westem disease. "For this reason we hope that the United Nations will soon lift the condemning veto against the leaf and rectify a scientific, cultural, and human error." Source: 1993 declaration at the Machu Picchu meeting of G0¢a Jeal growers and consumers from Bolivia, Columbia, and Pery |DOCUMENT 11 “In villages around South America, an increasing number of peasant farmers are ] [turning away from drug crops ... some willingly, due to drops in prices, and others ‘with government pressure and assistance. Many growers are tiring of the fear, \violence, intimidation and uncertainties that are part and parcel of the drug business.” Source: Luis Choque Flores, a farmer who is now producing pineapple DOCUMENT 12 |"Bolivian law stipulates that coca can be legally cultivated for traditional purposes lon 12,000 hectares of land. The rest must go. Coca is being replaced with coffee, yucca, rubber, pineapple, banana, citrus, peppers, tea, passion fruit and livestock feed." ‘Source: The UN international Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) official DOCUMENT 13 |"A lot of them come with no knowledge of the area in which they are living and only know about coca growing. It is much more difficult to work with them lbecause you have to start with the basics regarding other crops. In some areas, farmers simply take government funds to grow other crops, but continue to grow coca.” Source: a UNDGP official DOCUMENT 14 Drug Use: American's High School Seniors, 1975-08 "Cocaine Percentage Ever Used” Class of 1975 9.0 Class of 1994 5.9 Class of 1980 15.7 Class of 1995 6.0 Class of 1990 94 Class of 1996 74 Class of 1991 78 Class of 1997 87 Class of 1992 61 Class of 1998 9.3 Class of 1993, 6.4 ‘Source: Monitoring the Future, University of Michigan Institute for Social Research and National institute of Drug UsageDOCUMENT 15, [A $1 to $2 milion dollar sophisticated tunnel was discovered under the international boundary between Aqua Prieta, Mexico, and Douglas, Arizona. The 100-yard-long, 30-foot-deep concrete tunnel terminated at one end of the tunnel under a hycraulic-controlled pool table; law enforcement officials described it as “tke something out of James Bond movie.” ‘Source: The Dallas Morning News, 1990 DOCUMENT 16